Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Cherokee Boarding School: class of 1926

  • wcu_cherokee_traditions-664.jp2
  • This photograph of the Cherokee High School graduating class of 1926 includes renowned Cherokee woodcarver, Goingback Chiltoskey (1907-2000). A native of Cherokee, North Carolina, Chiltoskey was trained in woodworking and art at the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas and the American Indian Art Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He began teaching woodworking at the Cherokee High School in 1935. He worked as a model maker for the U.S. Army during World War II and continued his craft after retiring in 1966. He was known for his many carvings of animals and people and worked primarily in native woods like walnut, cherry, apple, buckeye, and holly. Chiltoskey is pictured standing fourth from the right.