Remembering Walker Calhoun -- Cherokee Musician, Dancer, and Teacher Walker Calhoun was a Cherokee musician, dancer, and...

Remembering Walker Calhoun -- Cherokee Musician, Dancer, and Teacher Walker Calhoun was a Cherokee musician, dancer, and teacher. During his lifetime, he was honored with the inaugural Sequoyah Award (1988), a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award (1990), and a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (1992). In celebration of American Indian Heritage Month, we celebrate Calhoun’s service here. Born and raised in the Big Cove community on the Qualla Reservation, Mr. Calhoun kept alive endangered ceremonial arts and customs of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. He was a respected medicine man and spiritual leader, highly knowledgeable in Cherokee history, lore, religious practices and herbal healing. The preservation of traditional Cherokee culture today depends on the efforts of individuals like Calhoun and his mentor, Will West Long. Mr. Long has been credited with rescuing much of what remains of the folkways indigenous to Big Cove. Following Long’s death in 1947, Calhoun and many of his relatives took up the task of teaching younger generations ceremonial dances and medicine songs. At the same time, he organized a dance group named the Raven Rock Dancers, which still performs at pow-wows and special events. Photo Credit: Rob Amberg alt. text: profile head shot of gray-haired man wearing headband, glasses, patterned long-sleeve shirt and beaded necklace.