National Heritage Fellowship
Encyclopedia
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
' highest honor in the folk
and traditional arts
. It is a one-time only award and fellows must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
The program began in 1982. Each year, fellowships are presented to between ten and fifteen artists or groups at a White House
ceremony in Washington, D.C.
A biographical dictionary of the award winners from the first 20 years was published in 2001. A young readers book featuring five of the National Heritage Fellows entitled "Extraordinary Ordinary People: Five American Masters of Traditional Arts" was published in 2006.
basket weavers, African American
blues
musicians, traditional fiddle
rs, Mexican American
accordion
ists, and all manner of traditional artisans and performers of numerous ethnic backgrounds.
National Heritage Fellowship winners include:
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure
Living National Treasure (Japan)
is a Japanese popular term for those individuals certified as by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as based on Japan's...
award, the Fellowship is the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' highest honor in the folk
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
and traditional arts
Folklife
Folklife is an extension of, and often an alternate term for the subject of, folklore. The term gained usage in the United States in the 1960s from its use by such folklore scholars as Don Yoder and Warren Roberts, who wished to recognize that the study of folklore goes beyond oral genres to...
. It is a one-time only award and fellows must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
The program began in 1982. Each year, fellowships are presented to between ten and fifteen artists or groups at a White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
A biographical dictionary of the award winners from the first 20 years was published in 2001. A young readers book featuring five of the National Heritage Fellows entitled "Extraordinary Ordinary People: Five American Masters of Traditional Arts" was published in 2006.
Winners
Awardees have included Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
basket weavers, African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musicians, traditional fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
rs, Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
ists, and all manner of traditional artisans and performers of numerous ethnic backgrounds.
1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 |
1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
National Heritage Fellowship winners include:
1982
- Dewey BalfaDewey BalfaDewey Balfa was an American Cajun fiddler and singer who contributed significantly to the popularity of Cajun music. Balfa was born near Mamou, Louisiana...
, CajunCajunCajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
fiddler - Joe HeaneyJoe HeaneySeosamh Ó hÉanaí , Sean Nós singer, 15 October 1919 – 1 May 1984.-Biography:A native of Carna, County Galway, Ireland, Ó hÉanaí spent much of his life living in England, Scotland and in New York City....
, Irish Sean NósSean-nós songSean-nós is a highly ornamented style of unaccompanied traditional Irish singing. It is a sean-nós activity, which also includes sean-nós dancing...
singer - Tommy JarrellTommy JarrellTommy Jarrell was an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer from the Mount Airy region of North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains.-Biography:...
, Appalachian fiddler - Bessie JonesBessie JonesBessie Jones , gospel singer from Smithville, GA. She learned her songs from her grandfather, a former slave born in Africa. She was a founding member of the Georgia Sea Island Singers. Alan Lomax first encountered Bessie Jones on a southern trip in 1959...
, singer, member of the Georgia Sea Island SingersGeorgia Sea Island SingersThe Georgia Sea Island Singers are an American folk music ensemble from Georgia, United States. Formed in the early 1900s, the group is formed of African Americans who travel performing songs and other elements of the Gullah culture... - George LópezGeorge LópezGeorge López was a renowned Santos Woodcarver who was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1982. He was born in the small village of Cordova, New Mexico which is situated in a small valley of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains...
, SantosSanto (art)Santo is a traditional New Mexican genre of religious sculpture. The word "santo" is also used to refer to individual works in this genre...
woodcarver - Brownie McGheeBrownie McGheeWalter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
, blues guitarist - Hugh McGrawHugh McGrawHugh McGraw is a leading figure in contemporary Sacred Harp singing. He was the General Chairman of the committee that created the 1991 Denson revision of The Sacred Harp and played an important role in promoting the spread of Sacred Harp singing...
, shape noteShape noteShape notes are a music notation designed to facilitate congregational and community singing. The notation, introduced in 1801, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools...
singer - Lydia MendozaLydia MendozaLydia Mendoza was an American guitarist and singer of Tejano music. She is known as La Alondra de la Frontera ....
, Mexican AmericanMexican AmericanMexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
singer - Bill MonroeBill MonroeWilliam Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
, bluegrass musician - Elijah Pierce, carver and painter
- Adam Popovich, Tamburitza musician
- Georgeann Robinson, OsageOsage NationThe Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
ribbonworker - Duff Severe, saddlemaker
- Philip SimmonsPhilip SimmonsPhilip Simmons was an American artisan and blacksmith specializing in the craft of ironwork. Simmons spent 77 years as a blacksmith, focusing on decorative iron work. When he began his career, blacksmiths in Charleston made practical, everyday household objects, such as horseshoes...
, ornamental ironworkerIronworkerIronworker is a class of machines that can shear, notch, and punch holes in steel plate. Ironworkers generate force using mechanical advantage or hydraulic systems. Modern systems use hydraulic rams powered by a heavy alternating current electric motor. High strength carbon steel blades and dies...
and blacksmithBlacksmithA blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut... - Sanders "Sonny" Terry, blues musician
1983
- Sister Mildred Baker, Shaker singer
- Rafael CepedaRafael CepedaRafael Cepeda Atiles a.k.a. "The Patriarch of the Bomba and Plena" was the patriarch of the Cepeda family, known internationally as the exponents of Afro-Puerto Rican folk music.-Early years:...
, bombaBombaBomba is one of the traditional musical styles of Puerto Rico. it is a largely African-derived music. The rhythm and beat are played by a set of floor drums, cuá and a maraca. Dance is an integral part of the music: the dancers move their bodies to every beat of the drum, making bomba a very...
dancer and musician - Ray HicksRay HicksRay Hicks was a renowned Appalachian storyteller, who lived his entire life on Beech Mountain, North Carolina. He was particularly known for the telling of Jack Tales.In 1983 he was made a National Heritage Fellow....
, Appalachian storyteller - Stanley Hicks, Appalachian musician and storyteller
- John Lee HookerJohn Lee HookerJohn Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
, blues guitarist and singer - Mike Manteo, SicilianSicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
marionettist (MarionetteMarionetteA marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
maker) - Narciso MartínezNarciso MartínezNarciso Martínez , dubbed early on, El Huracan del Valle , began recording in 1936, on October 21 precisely, and is the father of conjunto music...
, accordionist and composer - Lanier Meaders, potter from Georgia
- Almeda RiddleAlmeda RiddleAlmeda Riddle was an American folk singer.Born and raised in Cleburne County, Arkansas, she learned music from her father, a fiddler and singing teacher. She collected and sang traditional ballads throughout her life, usually unaccompanied...
, ballad singer - Simon St. Pierre, French AmericanFrench AmericanFrench Americans or Franco-Americans are Americans of French or French Canadian descent. About 11.8 million U.S. residents are of this descent, and about 1.6 million speak French at home.An additional 450,000 U.S...
fiddler from Maine - Joe Shannon (piper), Irish piperBagpipesBagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
- Alex Stewart, copper and woodworker
- Ada Thomas, ChitimachaChitimachaThe Chitimacha are a Native American federally recognized tribe that lives in the U.S. state of Louisiana, mainly in St. Mary Parish. They currently number about 720 people. The Chitimacha language is a language isolate.- History :The Chitimacha's historic home was the southern Louisiana coast...
basketmaker - Lucinda Toomer, African American quilter
- Lem Ward, duck decoyDuck decoy (model)A duck decoy is a man-made object resembling a real duck. Duck decoys are sometimes used in duck hunting to attract real ducks.Duck decoys were historically carved from wood, but more recently are also made of plastic...
maker and painter - Dewey WilliamsDewey WilliamsDewey Edgar Williams , was a professional baseball player who played catcher in the Major Leagues from 1944-1948.-External links:...
, shape noteShape noteShape notes are a music notation designed to facilitate congregational and community singing. The notation, introduced in 1801, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools...
singer
1987
- Louis BashellLouis BashellLouis Bashell was an American polka musician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was known for playing the Slovenian-style polka. He was nicknamed "Milwaukee's polka king"....
, polkaPolkaThe polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
musician - Wade MainerWade MainerWade Mainer was an American singer and banjoist. With his band, the Sons of the Mountaineers, he is credited with bridging the gap between old-time mountain music and Bluegrass and is sometimes called the "Grandfather of Bluegrass." In addition, he innovated a two-finger banjo fingerpicking style,...
, bluegrass banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
ist - Whistlin' Alex MooreWhistlin' Alex MooreWhistlin' Alex Moore was an American blues pianist, singer and whistler. He is best remembered for his recordings of "Across The Atlantic Ocean" and "Black Eyed Peas and Hog Jowls."-Early life:...
, bluesBluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
pianistPianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
1988
- Albert "Sunnyland SlimSunnyland SlimAlbert "Sunnyland Slim" Luandrew was an American blues pianist, who was born in the Mississippi Delta, and later moved to Chicago, Illinois, to contribute to that city's post-war scene as a center for blues music...
" Luandrew, blues pianist. - Michael FlatleyMichael FlatleyMichael Ryan Flatley is an American Irish dancer, choreographer, actor, musician and occasional television presenter. He became internationally known for Irish dance shows Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames, and Celtic Tiger...
, Irish American step dancer
1989
- Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings, Kiowa Regalia Maker
- LaVaughn RobinsonLaVaughn RobinsonLaVaughn Robinson was an US tap dancer, choreographer, and teacher.A virtuoso tap dancer, Robinson perfected a high speed, low to the ground, a cappella style of dance that was characterized by elegance, precision, and clarity of sound...
, tap dancer and choreographer - Earl ScruggsEarl ScruggsEarl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...
, Banjo musician - Chesley Goseyun Wilson, Apache fiddleApache fiddleThe Apache fiddle is a bowed string instrument used by the indigenous Apache people of the southwestern United States.The Apache fiddle consists of a plant stalk, such as that of the agave or mescal plant...
maker
1990
- Kevin Locke Lakota Flute Player/Singer/Dancer/Storyteller Mobridge, SD
- Wally McRaeWally McRaeWally McRae is a rancher, an American cowboy, a poet and philosopher.Wally McRae runs the Rocker Six Cattle Co. ranch on south of Forsyth Montana. McRae attended grade school and high school at nearby Colstrip, Montana. He graduated from Montana State University in 1958 in zoology and ...
Cowboy Poet Colstrip Montana - Em Bun Cambodian Silk Weaver Harrisburg, PA
1992
- Fatima KuinovaFatima KuinovaFatima Kuinova is a Bukharian Jewish Shashmakom singer. She was named "Merited Artist of the Soviet Union".Kuinova was born in Samarqand, Uzbek SSR, but moved to Stalinabad, Tajik SSR with her seven brothers and two sisters when she was thirteen years old, after their father was jailed and...
, Bukharan Jewish singer "Merited Artist of the Soviet Union" - Jerry BrownJerry Dolyn BrownAmerican folk artist Jerry Dolyn Brown, better known as Jerry Brown , is a traditional stoneware pottery maker who lives and works in Hamilton, Alabama. He is a 1992 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship award and 2003 recipient of the Alabama Folk Heritage...
stoneware potter - T. Viswanathan, South Indian flutist and vocalist
1997
- Edward Babb, shout bandShout bandA shout band is a traditional, soul based musical style that arose in some predominantly African American Protestant churches in the 1920s.-History:...
leader - Charles BrownCharles Brown (musician)Charles Brown , born in Texas City, Texas was an American blues singer and pianist whose soft-toned, slow-paced blues-club style influenced the development of blues performance during the 1940s and 1950s...
, blues pianist, singer and composer - Gladys Clark, CajunCajunCajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
spinnerSpinning (textiles)Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
and weaver - Georgia Harris, CatawbaCatawbaCatawba may refer to several things:*Catawba , a Native American tribe*Catawban languages-Botany:*Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other Native American tribes*Catawba , a variety of grape...
poet - Hua Wenyi, Chinese KunquKunquKunqu , also known as Kunju , Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from the Kunshan melody, and dominated Chinese theatre from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The style originated in the Wu cultural area...
opera singer - Ali Akbar KhanAli Akbar KhanAli Akbar Khan , often referred to as Khansahib or by the title Ustad , was a Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod...
, North Indian classical sarodSarodThe sarod is a stringed musical instrument, used mainly in Indian classical music. Along with the sitar, it is the most popular and prominent instrument in the classical music of Hindustan...
player - Ramón José López, santeroSanto (art)Santo is a traditional New Mexican genre of religious sculpture. The word "santo" is also used to refer to individual works in this genre...
and metalsmith - Jim & Jesse McReynoldsJim & JesseJim & Jesse were an American bluegrass music duo composed of brothers Jim McReynolds and Jesse McReynolds...
, bluegrass musicians and brothers - Phong Nguyen (Nguyễn Thuyết Phong), Vietnamese musician and ethnomusicologist
- Hystercine Rankin, African American quilter
- Francis WhitakerFrancis WhitakerFrancis Whitaker was a blacksmith in Carmel, California and, later, an artist-in-residence at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, CO.He was born in Woburn, Massachusetts and died in Glenwood Springs, Colorado....
, blacksmith and ornamental ironworker
1998
- Apsara Ensemble, Cambodian traditional dancers and musicians
- Eddie BlazonczykEddie BlazonczykEddie Blazonczyk is a polka musician and leader of the band The Versatones. He was born in Chicago to Polish Immigrant parents. Their album Another Polka Celebration won the 1986 Grammy in the Polka Category. He was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship in 1998...
, Polish American musician and bandleader - Dale Calhoun, boat builder
- Bruce Caesar, Sac and Fox-Pawnee, German silversmith
- Antonio De La Rosa, TejanoTejanoTejano or Texano is a term used to identify a Texan of Mexican heritage.Historically, the Spanish term Tejano has been used to identify different groups of people...
conjuntoConjuntoConjunto literally translates as "group," and is regionally accepted in Texas as defining a genre of music that was born out of south Texas at the end of the 19th Century, after German settlers introduced the button accordion. The bajo sexto has come to accompany the button accordion and is...
accordianist - Epstein Brothers, Jewish KlezmerKlezmerKlezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
musicians - Sophia GeorgeSophia GeorgeSophia George is a Jamaican singer. She is best known for her 1985 hit "Girlie Girlie," which reached number one in Jamaica, and was also a Top-10 hit in the UK...
, YakamaYakamaThe Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, or simply Yakama Nation , is a Native American group with nearly 10,000 enrolled members, living in Washington. Their reservation, along the Yakima River, covers an area of approximately 1.2 million acres...
- ColvilleColville (tribe)The Colville tribe is a Native American tribe of the Pacific Northwest. The name Colville comes from association with Fort Colville, named after Andrew Colvile of the Hudson's Bay Company...
beadworker - Nadjeschda Overgaard, Danish American hardanger embroideryHardanger embroideryHardanger embroidery or "Hardangersøm" is a form of embroidery traditionally worked with white thread on white even-weave cloth, using counted thread and drawn thread work techniques. It is sometimes called whitework embroidery.-History:...
needleworker - Harilaos Papapostolou, Greek Byzantine chanter
- Claude "Fiddler" WilliamsClaude Williams (musician)Claude "The Fiddler" Williams was an American jazz violinist and guitarist.Williams was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in 1908, and by 10 he had learned to play guitar, mandolin, banjo and cello. Upon hearing Joe Venuti play, he was inspired to take up the violin...
, jazz and swing fiddler - Pops StaplesPops StaplesRoebuck "Pops" Staples was a Mississippi-born Gospel and R&B musician.A "pivotal figure in gospel in the 1960s and 70s," he was an accomplished songwriter, guitarist and singer...
, gospel and blues musician
1999
- Frisner Augustin, Haitian drummer
- Lila Greengrass Blackdeer, Chunk and Black Ash basketmaker and needleworker
- Shirley CaesarShirley CaesarShirley Ann Caesar is an American Gospel music singer, songwriter and recording artist whose career has spanned six decades...
, gospel singer - Alfredo Campos, horse hair hitcher
- Mary Louise Defender WilsonMary Louise Defender WilsonMarie Louise Defender Wilson , also known by her Dakotah name Wagmuhawin , is a storyteller, traditionalist, historian, scholar and educator of the Dakotah/Hidatsa people and a cultural director working in health care organizations.-Early life:Wilson was born on October 14, 1930 near Shields on...
, Dakotah-HidatsaHidatsaThe Hidatsa are a Siouan people, a part of the Three Affiliated Tribes. The Hidatsa's autonym is Hiraacá. According to the tribal tradition, the word hiraacá derives from the word "willow"; however, the etymology is not transparent and the similarity to mirahací ‘willows’ inconclusive...
traditionalist and storyteller - Jimmy "Slyde" Godbolt, tapdancer
- Ulysses Goode, Western Mono basketmaker
- Bob HoltBob Holt (fiddler)Bob Holt was a fiddler, playing old-time and for square dances. He was known for his lightning-fast, energetic style of playing. He was born on November 25, 1930 in Ava, Douglas County, Missouri...
, Ozark fiddler - Zakir HussainZakir Hussain (musician)Zakir Hussain , , is an Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer.-Early life:Hussain was born in Mumbai, India to the legendary tabla player Alla Rakha. He attended St...
, tabla player - Elliott "Ellie" Mannette, steel pan builder, tuner and player
- Mick MoloneyMick MoloneyMichael "Mick" Moloney is a traditional Irish musician and scholar. Born in Limerick, County Limerick, he was an important figure on the Dublin folk-song revival in the 1960s. In 1973, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, Irish musician - Eudokia Sorochaniuk, Ukrainian American weaver and textile artist
- Ralph W. Stanley, boatbuilder
2000
- Bounxou Chanthraphone, Laotian American weaver
- The Dixie HummingbirdsThe Dixie HummingbirdsThe Dixie Hummingbirds are an influential American gospel music group, spanning more than 80 years from the jubilee quartet style of the 1920s, through the "hard gospel" quartet style of Gospel's golden age in the 1940s and 1950s, to the eclectic pop-tinged songs of today.-History:Formed in 1928 in...
, African American Gospel Quartet - José GonzálezJosé GonzálezJosé González is a Swedish-Argentine indie folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Gothenburg, Sweden.González is also a member of Swedish band Junip, along with Elias Araya and Tobias Winterkorn.- Biography :...
, hammock weaver - Nettie Jackson, Klickitat basketmaker
- Santiago Jiménez, Jr., Tejano Accordionist
- Genoa KeaweGenoa Keawe‘Aunty’ Genoa Leilani Adolpho Keawe-Aiko was a Hawaiian musician. Aunty Genoa was born on the island of Oʻahu in the Kakaʻako district of Honolulu and grew up in Lā'ie. She is an icon in Hawaiian music and has been a mainstay on the Hawaiian music scene for more than 60 years...
, Native Hawaiian singer and ukulele player - Frankie ManningFrankie ManningFrankie Manning was an American dancer, instructor and choreographer. Manning is considered one of the founding fathers of the Lindy Hop.-Early years:...
, lindy hop dancer and choreographer - Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, blues piano player
- Konstantinos Pilarinos, Orthodox Byzantine icon woodcarver
- Chris StrachwitzChris StrachwitzChris Strachwitz is a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He is the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he established in 1960 and which became one of the leading labels recording and issuing blues, Cajun, norteño and other forms of roots music from the...
, record producer and label founder - Dorothy ThompsonDorothy ThompsonDorothy Thompson was an American journalist and radio broadcaster, who in 1939 was recognized by Time magazine as the second most influential women in America next to Eleanor Roosevelt...
, weaver - Felipe García Villamil, Afro-Cuban drummer and santero
- Don WalserDon WalserDonald Ray Walser was an American country music singer. He was known as a unique, award-winning yodeling "Texas country music legend."- Music career :...
, Western singer and guitarist
2001
- Wilson "Boozoo" Chavis, Creole zydecoZydecoZydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
accordionist - Celestino Avilés, santeroSanto (art)Santo is a traditional New Mexican genre of religious sculpture. The word "santo" is also used to refer to individual works in this genre...
- Mozell Benson, quilter
- Hazel DickensHazel DickensHazel Jane Dickens was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs...
, Appalachian singer and songwriter - João Oliveira dos Santos (Mestre João GrandeMestre João GrandeJoão Oliveira dos Santos better known as Mestre João Grande, is a Grão-Mestre of the Afro-Brazilian martial art of capoeira angola who has contributed to the spread of this art throughout the world...
), Capoeira Angola master - Evalena Henry, ApacheApacheApache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
basketweaver - Peter Kyvelos, oudOudThe oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
maker - Eddie Pennington, thumbpicking-style guitarist
- Qi Shu Fang, Beijing OperaBeijing operaPeking opera or Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court...
performer - Seiichi TanakaSeiichi TanakaSeiichi Tanaka is the first Japan-trained teacher of kumidaiko, or taiko, in the United States and largely regarded as the father of the art form in North America...
, TaikoTaikomeans "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...
drummer and dojo founder - Dorothy Trumpold, rug weaver
- Fred Tsoodle, KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
sacred song leader - Joseph WilsonJoseph Wilson-In politics:*Joe Wilson , Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson, Sr., , U.S. Representative from South Carolina*Joseph C. Wilson, former United States ambassador to Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe and husband of Valerie Plame Wilson...
, folklorist
2002
- Ralph Blizard, fiddler
- Loren BommelynLoren BommelynLoren Bommelyn is a tradition bearer for the Tolowa tribe. He has dedicated himself to preserving the traditional songs, language, and basketry. He is the foremost ceremonial leader of the tribe, and its most prolific basketweaver....
, TolowaTolowaThe Tolowa are a Native American tribe. They still reside in their traditional territories in northwestern California and southern Oregon. Tolowa are members of the federally recognized Smith River Rancheria, Elk Valley Rancheria, Confederated Tribes of Siletz, as well as the unrecognized Tolowa...
tradition bearer - Kevin Burke, Irish American fidler
- Rose Cree and Francis Cree, Ojibwe basketmakers and storytellers
- Nadim Dlaikan, nyeNye-People:*Sir Archibald Nye, British military officer*Aneurin "Nye" Bevan, British Political Leader*Ben Nye, Hollywood makeup artist*Bill Nye, U.S. popular scientist and TV personality*Carrie Nye, U.S. actress*David Evelyn Nye, 20th century British architect...
(reed flute) player - Luderin DarboneLuderin DarboneLuderin Lawrence Darbone was a Cajun-Western swing fiddle player for the band Hackberry Ramblers....
and Edwin DuhonEdwin DuhonEdwin Duhon was an American musician and co-founder of the Hackberry Ramblers, a band playing a combination of Cajun music, Western swing, and country music....
, Cajun fiddler and accordionist - David "Honeyboy" Edwards, blues guitarist and singer
- Flory JagodaFlory JagodaFlory Jagoda is a Jewish American and Bosnian guitarist, composer and singer. She is known for her interpretation of Ladino songs.-Biography:...
, Jewish-American singer, songwriter, and guitarist - Clara Neptune Keezer, Passamaquoddy basketmaker
- Bob McQuillen, Contra dance musician and composer
- Domingo Saldivar, ConjuntoConjuntoConjunto literally translates as "group," and is regionally accepted in Texas as defining a genre of music that was born out of south Texas at the end of the 19th Century, after German settlers introduced the button accordion. The bajo sexto has come to accompany the button accordion and is...
accordionist - Losang SamtenLosang SamtenLosang Samten is an American Tibetan scholar, sand mandala artist, former buddhist monk, and Spiritual Director of the . In 2002 he was made a National Heritage Fellow.-Early Life:...
, TibetanTibetan peopleThe Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
monk and creator of sandpaintingSandpaintingSandpainting is the art of pouring colored sands, powdered pigments from minerals or crystals, and pigments from other natural or synthetic sources onto a surface to make a fixed, or unfixed sand painting...
s - Jean RitchieJean RitchieJean Ritchie is an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player.- Out of Kentucky :Abigail and Balis Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky had 14 children, and Jean was the youngest...
, Appalachian musician and songwriter
2003
- Rosa Elena EgipciacoRosa Elena EgipciacoRosa Elena Egipciaco, often referred to as the 'Queen of Mundillo' is a master Mundillo lacemaker and teacher of this Puerto Rican folk art. In addition to being part of the long Mundillo tradition of her hometown of Moca, Puerto Rico, she claims a place in a much larger, much longer tradition of...
, mundillo maker (Puerto Rican Bobbin Lace) - Agnes "Oshanee" Kenmille, Salish beadworker and regalia maker
- Norman KennedyNorman KennedyNorman Kennedy was a trade unionist and politician in Ireland.Kennedy was a prominent member of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union. He served as President of the Irish Trade Union Congress in 1957...
, Scottish weaver, singer, storyteller - Roberto Martinez and Lorenzo Martinez, father and son musicians
- Norma MillerNorma MillerNorma Miller is an American swing dancer known to many people as The Queen of Swing. The daughter of parents from Bridgetown, Barbados, Miller was born and raised in Harlem, New York. She was interviewed along with dance partner Frankie Manning in Ken Burns documentary Jazz...
, African American Swing Dancer/Choreographer - Ron Poast, HardangerHardangerHardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord. It consists of the municipalities of Odda, Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik, Granvin, Kvam and Jondal, and is located inside the county of Hordaland....
fiddle maker - Felipe I. Ruak and Joseph K. Ruak, father and son Carolinian stick dancers
- Manoochehr SadeghiManoochehr SadeghiManoochehr Sadeghi is Persian American naturalized citizen, born in Tehran, Iran. He is considered a Grandmaster or Ostad of the santur a Persian hammered dulcimer. Recipient of the 2003 National Heritage Fellowship Award by the Library of Congress and in 2002 Durfee Foundation: Recipient of the...
, santurSanturThe santur is a Persian hammered dulcimerIt is a trapezoid-shaped box often made of walnut or different exotic woods. The Persian classical santur has 72 strings. The name santur was first referenced in ancient Persian poetry...
player - Jesus Arriada, Johnny Curutchet, Martin Goicoechea and Jesus Goni, BasqueBasque peopleThe Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
(BertsolariBertsolariA bertsolari is a singer of bertso, a musical verse in Basque tradition. The bertolaris are often found in pairs, in which a topic is sung extemporaneously in verses alternatively, but they can stage solo or group verse sessions too. It is usually sung to a slow tempo with long or short verses and...
) poets
2004
- Anjani Ambegaokar, KathakKathakKathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from Uttar Pradesh, India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers...
dancer - Charles "Chuck" T. Campbell, Gospel steel guitarist
- Joe DerraneJoe DerraneJoe Derrane is an Irish-American button accordion player, the greatest exponent of the D/C# system diatonic accordion.Derrane's parents were Irish immigrants. His father played accordion and his mother the fiddle...
, Irish-American button accordionist - Jerry DouglasJerry DouglasJerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
, DobroDobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
player - Gerald "Subiyay" Miller, SkokomishSkokomish (tribe)The Skokomish are one of nine tribes of the Twana, a Native American people of western Washington state in the United States. The tribe lives along Hood Canal, a fjord-like inlet on the west side of the Kitsap Peninsula and the Puget Sound basin...
tradition bearer, carver, basket maker - Chum Ngek, Cambodian musician and teacher
- Milan Opacich, TamburitzaTamburitzaTamburica or Tamboura refers to any member of a family of long-necked lutes popular in Eastern and Southern Europe, particularly Croatia , Serbia and Hungary. It is also known in southern Slovenia and Burgenland...
instrument maker - Eliseo Rodriguez and Paula Rodriguez, husband and wife straw appliqué artists
- Koko TaylorKoko TaylorKoko Taylor sometimes spelled KoKo Taylor was an American Chicago blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough, powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings....
, blues musician - Yuqin Wang and Zhengli Xu, Chinese rod puppeteers http://www.nea.gov/news/news04/Heritage/Wang.html
2005
- Eldrid Skjold Arntzen, Norwegian-American rosemaler
- Earl BarthéEarl BarthéEarl Barthé was an American plasterer and plastering historian. A self-described "Creole of Color", Barthé is particularly admired for preserving many of the old plaster walls and ornamental cornices for historic structures within New Orleans...
, Creole building artisan - Chuck BrownChuck BrownChuck Brown is a guitarist and singer who is affectionately called "The Godfather of Go-go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed in and around Washington, D.C. in the mid- and late 1970s...
, African American musical innovator - Janette CarterJanette CarterJanette Carter was the last surviving child of A.P. and Sara Carter, of Carter Family musical fame. In 1976, she and community members built an 880-seat amphitheater, the Carter Family Fold, beside the store her father operated in Southwestern Virginia...
, country musician - Michael DoucetMichael DoucetMichael Doucet is a Cajun fiddler, singer and songwriter who founded the Cajun band BeauSoleil from Lafayette, Louisiana.In 2005 Doucet was one of 12 recipients of the National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA award, which recognizes artistic excellence, cultural...
, Cajun fiddler, composer, band leader - Big Joe DuskinBig Joe DuskinBig Joe Duskin was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist. He is best known for his debut album, Cincinnati Stomp , and the tracks "Well, Well Baby" and "I Met a Girl Named Martha".-Biography:...
, blues and boogie-woogie pianist - Jerry Grcevich, TamburitzaTamburitzaTamburica or Tamboura refers to any member of a family of long-necked lutes popular in Eastern and Southern Europe, particularly Croatia , Serbia and Hungary. It is also known in southern Slovenia and Burgenland...
musician, prim player - Wanda JacksonWanda JacksonWanda Lavonne Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 60s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist...
, country, rockabilly and gospel singer - Grace Henderson Nez, Navajo weaver
- Herminia Albarrán RomeroHerminia Albarrán RomeroHerminia Albarrán Romero is a Mexican-American artist known for her papel picado and altar-making. She received the National Heritage Fellowship award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2005. Romero currently resides in San Francisco, CA. Born and raised in Tlatlaya, Mexico, Romero began...
, paper cutting artist - Beyle Schaechter-GottesmanBeyle Schaechter-GottesmanBeyle Schaechter-Gottesman is a Yiddish poet and songwriter.-Biography:She was born in Vienna into an Eastern-European, Yiddish-speaking family; her family left for Czernowitz, Ukraine and settled there when Schaechter-Gottesman was a young child...
, Yiddish singer, songwriter, and poet - Albertina WalkerAlbertina Walker-Early years:Walker was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ruben and Camille Coleman Walker. Her mother was born in Houston County, Georgia, and her father in Bibb County, Georgia. They moved to Chicago between 1917-1920 where they lived out their lives. Albertina had four siblings born in Bibb County...
, gospel singer,"Queen of Gospel Music" - James Ka'upena Wong, Hawaiian chanter
2006
- Charles M. CarrilloCharles M. CarrilloCharles M. Carrillo is an American artist, author, and archeologist known particularly for creating art using Spanish colonial techniques that reflect 18th century Spanish New Mexico...
, santeroSanto (art)Santo is a traditional New Mexican genre of religious sculpture. The word "santo" is also used to refer to individual works in this genre... - Delores Elizabeth Churchill, Haida cedar bark weaver
- Henry GrayHenry GrayHenry Gray was an English anatomist and surgeon most notable for publishing the book Gray's Anatomy. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society at the age of 25.-Biography:...
, blues piano player and singer - Doyle LawsonDoyle LawsonDoyle Lawson is an American bluegrass and gospel musician. Doyle is best known as an accomplished mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 5-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.-Biography:...
, Gospel and bluegrass singer, bandleader - Esther MartinezEsther MartinezEsther Martinez was a linguist and storyteller for the Tewa people of New Mexico. Martinez was given the Tewa name P'oe Tsawa and was also known by various affectionate names, including "Ko'oe Esther" and "Aunt Esther."Martinez grew up in the southwest...
, Tewa linguist and storyteller - Diomedes MatosDiomedes MatosDiomedes Matos is a Puerto Rican musician and master instrument maker who is most famous for building string instruments. He built his first guitar at age 12 and later studied and mastered construction techniques for several traditional stringed instruments including cuatros, requintos, classical...
, master string instrument maker - George Na'opeGeorge Na'opeGeorge Lanakilakekiahialii Naope , born in Kalihi, Hawaii, was a celebrated kumu hula, master Hawaiian chanter, and leading advocate and preservationist of native Hawaiian culture worldwide...
, hula master - Wilho SaariWilho SaariWilho Saari is a fifth-generation Finnish American player of the kantele, the Finnish psaltery. Kreeta Haapasalo, a well-known kantele player in Finland in the 19th century, was his great-great grandmother...
, Finnish kanteleKanteleA kantele or kannel is a traditional plucked string instrument of the zither family native to Finland, Estonia, and Karelia. It is related to the Russian gusli, the Latvian kokle and the Lithuanian kanklės. Together these instruments make up the family known as Baltic psalteries...
player - Mavis StaplesMavis StaplesMavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress and civil rights activist who recorded with The Staple Singers, her family's band.-Biography:...
, Gospel, rhythm and blues singer - Nancy SweezyNancy SweezyNancy Sweezy was an American artist, author, folklorist, advocate, scholar, and preservationist. Known initially for her work as a potter in the 1950s, Sweezy became a scholar of the history and creation of pottery and wrote several authoritative texts and books on U.S. and international folk...
, folklorist and potter - Treme Brass BandTreme Brass BandThe Treme Brass Band is a marching brass band from New Orleans, Louisiana led by snare drummer Benny Jones, Sr. The band, which plays traditional New Orleans brass band music, features a shifting lineup that has included trumpeters Kermit Ruffins and James Andrews, tenor saxophonists Elliot Callier...
, New Orleans based brass band
2007
- Nicholas BensonNicholas BensonNicholas Waite Benson is a third generation American stone carver and owner of The John Stevens Shop in Newport, Rhode Island. He was named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow.-Early life:...
, stone letter cutter and calligrapher - Sidiki Conde, Guinean dancer and musician
- Violet Kazue de CristoforoViolet Kazue de CristoforoViolet Kazue de Cristoforo was a Japanese American poet and composer of haiku. Her haiku reflected the time that she and her family spent in detention in Japanese internment camps during World War II. She wrote more than a dozen books of poetry during her lifetime...
, Haiku poet and historian - Roland Freeman, photo documentarian, author, and exhibit Curator
- Pat Courtney Gold, Wasco sally bag weaver
- Eddie KamaeEddie KamaeEddie Kamae is one of the founding members of Sons of Hawaii. He is a 'ukulele virtuoso, singer, composer, film producer and primary proponent of theHawaiian Cultural Renaissance.-Biography:...
, Hawaiian musician - Agustin Lira, Chicano singer and musician,
- Julia ParkerJulia Parker (basketmaker)Julia Parker is a master basket weaver of the Coast Miwok and Kashaya Pomo tribes and a student of the great basket weavers of the twentieth century, Lucy Telles , Mabel McKay, , and Elsie Allen . Over the last forty years, Parker has become one of the pre-eminent Native American basket makers in...
, Kashia Pomo basketmaker - Mary Jane Queen, Appalachian musician
- Joe ThompsonJoe ThompsonJoseph "Joe" Thompson is an English footballer who plays for Rochdale as a midfielder. He has played professionally for the club in the Football League.-Career:...
, string band musician - Irvin Trujillo, Rio Grande weaver
- Elaine Hoffman Watts, Klezmer musician
2008
- Horace Axtell, Nez Perce drum maker, singer, tradition-bearer
- Dale Harwood, saddlemaker
- Bettye KimbrellBettye KimbrellBettye Kimbrell is a master folk artist for quilting, and one of the charter members of the North Jefferson Quilter's Guild in Mount Olive, Alabama. In 1995 she won the Alabama Folk Heritage Award, the highest honor for the traditional arts in Alabama...
, quilter - Jeronimo E. Lozano, Peruvian retabloRetabloA Retablo or lamina is a Latin American devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art....
maker - Oneida Hymn Singers of Wisconsin
- Sue Yeon Park, Korean dancer and musician
- Moges Seyoum, Ethiopian liturgical minister and scholar
- Jelon Vieira, Capoeira master
- Dr. Michael WhiteMichael White (clarinetist)Michael White is a jazz clarinetist, bandleader, composer, jazz historian and musical educator...
, traditional jazz musician and bandleader - Mac WisemanMac WisemanMalcolm B. Wiseman , better known as Mac Wiseman, is an American bluegrass singer, nicknamed The Voice with a Heart. The bearded singer is one of the cult figures of bluegrass....
, Bluegrass musician - Walter Murray Chiesa, traditional arts specialist and advocate
2009
- Birmingham SunlightsBirmingham SunlightsThe Birmingham Sunlights is an African-American a cappella gospel singing group from the Birmingham, Alabama area.This group developed their style within the Church of Christ, a Christian denominational group in which no instruments are used for performing church music...
, five-man, four-part harmonyHarmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
a cappellaA cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
gospelGospelA gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
group - Edwin Colón Zayas, Puerto Rican cuatroCuatro (Puerto Rico)The cuatro is the national instrument of Puerto Rico. It belongs to the lute family of string instruments.The cuatro of Puerto Rico has ten strings in five courses, tuned from low to high B-e-a-d'-g', 54321, with B and E in octaves and A, D and G in unisons. A cuatro player is called a...
- Chitresh DasChitresh DasChitresh Das is a classical dancer of the North Indian style of Kathak. Born in Calcutta, Das is a performer, choreographer, composer, and educator. He was instrumental in bringing Kathak to the U.S. and is credited with firmly establishing Kathak amongst American dancers and the Indian diaspora...
, KathakKathakKathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from Uttar Pradesh, India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers...
dancer and choreographer - LeRoy Graber, German-Russian willowWillowWillows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
basketmaker from South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over... - "Queen" Ida GuilloryQueen IdaIda Lewis "Queen Ida" Guillory is an Louisiana Creole accordionist. She was the first female accordion player to lead a zydeco band...
, ZydecoZydecoZydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
musician and singer - Dudley LaufmanDudley LaufmanDudley Laufman is a renowned contra and barn dance caller and musician. In 2009 he was made a National Heritage Fellow.Laufman attended his first dance as a boy while working at the Mistwold Farm in Fremont, NH, in 1948....
, ContraContra danceContra dance refers to several partnered folk dance styles in which couples dance in two facing lines...
and barnBarn danceA barn dance is any kind of dance held in a barn, but usually involves traditional or folk music with traditional dancing. It is a type of dance, originating in America and popular in Britain in the late 19th century and early 20th, derived from Schottische...
dance callerCaller (dancing)A caller is a person who prompts dance figures in such dances as line dance, square dance, and contra dance. The caller might be one of the participating dancers, though in modern country dance this is rare....
and musician - Amma D. McKen, YorubaYoruba peopleThe Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
OrishaOrishaAn Orisha is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system....
singer - Joel NelsonJoel NelsonJoel Nelson is a cowboy poet. In 2009 he received a National Heritage Fellowship.-References:...
, Cowboy poet - Teri Rofkar, Tlingit weaver and asketmaker
- Mike SeegerMike SeegerMike Seeger was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, and pan pipes. Seeger, a half-brother of Pete Seeger, produced more than 30 documentary...
, folk musician, cultural scholar - Sophiline Cheam ShapiroSophiline Cheam ShapiroSophiline Cheam Shapiro is a Cambodian dancer and choreographer.-Early life:At the age of eight she was forced to live in the countryside of Cambodia after her family was evacuated from the city by the Khmer Rouge...
, CambodiaCambodiaCambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
n classical dancer and choreographer
2010
- Yacub Addy
- Jim "Texas Shorty" Chancellor
- GLadys Kukana Grace
- Mary Jackson
- Delano Floyd "Del" McCoury
- Judith McCulloh
- Kamala Lakshmi NarayananKumari KamalaKumari Kamala is an Indian dancer and actress. Initially featured as a child dancer, Kamala appeared in almost 100 Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films throughout her career...
- Mike Rafferty
- Ezequiel Torres