Will West Long

Will West Long

Artisans

Cherokee Indians

Handicraft

Indigenous American masks

Manners and customs

Mask makers

Wood-carvers

Wood-carving -- Appalachian Region, Southern

This undated photograph is of Will West Long (1870-1947) wearing a ceremonial dance mask. Long was born in the remote western North Carolina community of Big Cove. Raised in the traditions of the Cherokee, Long attended Hampton Institute in Virginia when he was 25 years old. He lived off the Qualla Boundary until 1904, when he returned to Big Cove, where he remained for the rest of his life. For almost 30 years, Long served on Tribal Council, where he was instrumental in establishing the Cherokee Indian Fair, among other accomplishments. He recorded his knowledge regarding Cherokee medicine, carving, music and dance, and language with the hope of preserving tradition. Long was a consultant for ethnologists, James Mooney, Frank Speck, and Franz Olbrechts. An accomplished mask maker, Long died in 1947.

Unknown

Photograph Collection

Hunter Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

jpg;

photographs

StillImage

11055

https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/11055

2009-01-27

All rights reserved. For permissions and use, contact Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Cherokee, NC 28719;

Qualla Boundary

Appalachian Region, Southern

4" x 5"(dimension)

Cherokee Traditions