Walker Calhoun
Walker Calhoun | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 13, 1918 |
| Died | March 28, 2012 (aged 93) |
| Nationality | Cherokee |
| Spouse(s) | Evelyn |
| Parent(s) | Morgan Calhoun, Sally Ann Calhoun |
| Relatives | Will West Long (paternal uncle) |
Walker Calhoun (May 13, 1918[2] – March 28, 2012)[3] was a Cherokee musician, dancer, and teacher.[4] He was known as a medicine man and spiritual leader who worked to preserve the history, religion, and herbal healing methods of his people.[5]
Calhoun was the youngest of 12 children born to Sally Ann Calhoun and Morgan Calhoun.[2] His father died when Calhoun was nine.[4]
At the age of 12, Calhoun attended a boarding school in Cherokee, North Carolina, where he learned the English language.[6] Before that time, he had rarely heard English since his mother did not speak it.[7] During World War II, he was drafted and served as a combat engineer in Germany.[2]
Calhoun started learning Cherokee songs from an early age. He had learned most of the social, hunt, and sacred songs from his uncle, Will West Long, by the time he was nine years old.[7]
Calhoun founded the Raven Rock Dancers in the 1980s, to help keep traditional Cherokee dances alive within his Big Cove, North Carolina community.[8]
Awards and honors[]
- 1988 - , awarded to the person who has done the most to preserve and teach Cherokee culture;[7] Calhoun was the first recipient of this award[8]
- 1990 - North Carolina Folk Heritage Award
- 1992 - National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts[9]
References[]
- ^ "Walker Calhoun - Cherokee musician - Cherokee dancer - Blue Ridge Mountains". Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Olson, Ted (Fall 1995). "Walker Calhoun: Cherokee Song and Dance Man". Appalachian Journal. 23 (1): 70–77. JSTOR 40933725.
- ^ "Final Notes, Walker Calhoun". The Old Time Herald. n.d. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Walker Calhoun: Cherokee Musician/Dancer/Teacher". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. n.d. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
- ^ Broadfoot, Jan. "Twentieth-Century Tar Heels," Broadfoot's of Wendell, 2004.
- ^ "Indian Country Diaries . History . Oral History of the Cherokee". PBS. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Moose, Debbie. "Telling the Tales of Time." The News and Observer [Raleigh, North Carolina] 28 June 1992.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Govenar, Alan (2001). "Walker Calhoun: Native American Musician and Dancer (Cherokee)". Masters of Traditional Arts: A Biographical Dictionary. vol. 1 (A-J). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio. pp. 98–100. ISBN 1576072401. OCLC 47644303.
|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ "NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1992". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
External links[]
- Walker Calhoun at AllMusic
- Walker Calhoun discography at Discogs
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- 1918 births
- 2012 deaths
- Eastern Band Cherokee people
- Native American musicians
- People from Cherokee, North Carolina
- National Heritage Fellowship winners
- Native American dancers
- Indigenous peoples of North America biography stubs
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