Hewitt Walker Calhoun (May 13, 1918[2] – March 28, 2012)[3] was an Eastern Band Cherokee musician, dancer, and teacher.

[4] He was a medicine man and spiritual leader who worked to preserve the history, religion, and herbal healing methods of his people.

At the age of 12, Calhoun attended a boarding school in Cherokee, North Carolina, where he learned a little English.

Before that time, he had rarely heard English because his mother did not speak it (this was customary in the Eastern Cherokee tribe).

[2][6][4] Throughout his childhood, Calhoun learned Cherokee songs and dances from his Uncle Will West Long.

[10] Much of the Cherokee's songs and dances were lost, after years of the U.S. Government's, missionaries' and educators' attempts to suppress native tradition.

Calhoun makes his view of these traditions clear saying, "It was on the verge of going out of existence... Ima try and bring it back if I can.