Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters for the disaster and medical relief organization Samaritan's Purse. The population was 19,092 at the 2020 census.
Swain County is a county located on the far western border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,117. Its county seat is Bryson City.
Jackson County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,109. Since 1913, its county seat has been Sylva, which replaced Webster.
Caldwell County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,652. Its county seat is Lenoir. Caldwell County is part of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system.
Cherokee is a census-designated place (CDP) in Swain and Jackson counties in Western North Carolina, United States, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. Cherokee is located in the Oconaluftee River Valley around the intersection of U.S. Routes 19 and 441. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 2,195. It is the capital of the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, one of three recognized Cherokee tribes and the only one in North Carolina.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), is a federally recognized Indian Tribe based in Western North Carolina in the United States. They are descended from the small group of 800–1000 Cherokee who remained in the Eastern United States after the US military, under the Indian Removal Act, moved the other 15,000 Cherokee to west of the Mississippi River in the late 1830s, to Indian Territory. Those Cherokee remaining in the East were to give up tribal Cherokee citizenship and to assimilate. They became US citizens.
The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. It is a one-time only award and fellows must be living citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Each year, fellowships are presented to between nine and fifteen artists or groups at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Thomas Jefferson Jarrell was an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer from the Mount Airy region of North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains.
The Red Fox Chasers were a string band that formed in North Carolina in 1927, and were active until around 1931. Members included vocalist and guitar player A. P. Thompson, vocalist and harmonica player Bob Cranford, vocalist and banjo player Paul Miles, and fiddler Guy Brooks.
Sheila Kay Adams is an American storyteller, author, and musician from the Sodom Laurel community in Madison County, North Carolina.
Jim Shumate was a fiddler that played with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys from 1943–1945. Shumate's main influences were Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, Curly Fox, and his uncle who played the fiddle while he was growing up. Shumate joined the band after Bill Monroe heard him playing on the radio station WHKY from downtown Hickory, North Carolina, and asked him to join the Blue Grass Boys. Howdy Forrester, who was Bill Monroe's fiddle player at the time, gave his notice and was going into the Navy. At age 20, Shumate became the fiddler for the Blue Grass Boys, and he sang bass on gospel songs. During this time, the Blue Grass Boys were also a baseball team, so they would arrive early to towns they were playing at and challenge the local baseball team. Unfortunately, there were no recordings made while Shumate was in the Blue Grass Boys.
The Jacob Brown Grant Deeds, also known more simply as the Nolichucky Grants, were transactions for the sale of land by the Cherokee Nation to Jacob Brown. The transaction occurred at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River on March 25, 1775. The Jacob Brown grants were for two large tracts along the Nolichucky River some of which had been previously leased from the Cherokee.
Robert Lynn 'Bobby' McMillon was an American traditional ballad singer, musician, and storyteller living in Lenoir, N.C. He was a 2000 recipient of the North Carolina Heritage Award.
Bertie Caudill Dickens (1902–1994) was an old-time banjo player from the community of Ennice in Alleghany County, North Carolina. Dickens was born in Grayson County, Virginia, but lived most of her life in Ennice.
Earnest East was a fiddle, guitar, and banjo player. East began his music career as a member of the Camp Creek Boys, and later founded his own instrumental band which he called the Pine Ridge Boys in 1966. In 1969, the Pine Ridge Boys released their first album, titled "Old Time Mountain Music", on the County label. Their second album, "Stringband Music From Mt. Airy" was released in 1981 on the Heritage label.
Mary Jane Prince Queen was an American ballad singer and banjo player. She was once called a "walking archive of mountain music" for her knowledge of the traditional music of Appalachia.
Richard G. Sneed is the 28th Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Sneed succeeded former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert following Lambert's impeachment, only the second such impeachment since the 19th century.
Amanda Sequoyah Swimmer was an Eastern Band Cherokee potter. Swimmer's career focused on coil-built Cherokee pottery, and she worked to determine the name and function of these vessels. She was recognized in North Carolina for her contributions to the state's artistic and mountain heritage, and in 2018 she was named a Beloved Woman by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
