Introduction
Walker Calhoun (born May 13, 1918; died March 28, 2012) was a Cherokee musician, dancer, and teacher. He was known as a medicine man and spiritual leader who worked to preserve the history, religion, and herbal healing methods of his people. Calhoun was the youngest of 12 children born to Sally Ann Calhoun and Morgan Calhoun. His father died when Calhoun was nine. At the age of 12, Calhoun attended a boarding school in Cherokee, North Carolina, where he learned the English language. Before that time, he had rarely heard English since his mother did not speak it. During World War II, he was drafted and served as a combat engineer in Germany. 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.
Awards received
- 1988 - Sequoyah Award, awarded to the person who has done the most to preserve and teach Cherokee culture.
- 1990 - North Carolina Folk Heritage Award
- 1992 - National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship