Walker Calhoun

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]

Walker Calhoun
Born(1918-05-13)May 13, 1918
Big Cove, Qualla Boundary,[1] North Carolina, U.S.
DiedMarch 28, 2012(2012-03-28) (aged 93)
NationalityCherokee
Spouse(s)Evelyn
Parent(s)Morgan Calhoun, Sally Ann Calhoun
RelativesWill West Long (paternal uncle)

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 - Sequoyah Award, 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
  1. "Walker Calhoun - Cherokee musician - Cherokee dancer - Blue Ridge Mountains". Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  2. Olson, Ted (Fall 1995). "Walker Calhoun: Cherokee Song and Dance Man". Appalachian Journal. 23 (1): 70–77. JSTOR 40933725.
  3. "Final Notes, Walker Calhoun". The Old Time Herald. n.d. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  4. "Walker Calhoun: Cherokee Musician/Dancer/Teacher". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. n.d. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  5. Broadfoot, Jan. "Twentieth-Century Tar Heels," Broadfoot's of Wendell, 2004.
  6. "Indian Country Diaries . History . Oral History of the Cherokee". PBS. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  7. Moose, Debbie. "Telling the Tales of Time." The News and Observer [Raleigh, North Carolina] 28 June 1992.
  8. 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.
  9. "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.


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