National heritage fellowships

NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT
FOR THE ARTS

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NATIONAL
HERITAGE
FELLOWSHIPS

THE NATIONAL
HERITAGE FELLOWS
1998

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NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT
FOR THE ARTS

The National Heritage Fellowship
Awards celebrate the eclectic, exciting
and ever-changing character of America's
living cultural heritage and give us the
opportunity to reflect on the many
magnificent and diverse cultures that are
America.

Tonight, we have the rare and won-
derful opportunity to share the sights and
sounds of many distant lands speaking to us through the
master artists we honor. As diverse as our American nation
is, and as different as the talents presented tonight are, we
can nonetheless perceive a common thread of creative
expression and experimentation. We appreciate the emotion
of the music, the grace of movement, the precision of
design, and the magical transformation of wood and metal.

For centuries, our folk arts and cultural traditions have
extended hands across cultures and led us on a shared jour-
ney about who we are, where we came from, and what
dreams we hold for the future. Through their talents, these
artists, craftsmen and musicians have translated their inspira-
tions and cultural traditions into tangible pieces of American
history for future generations to share and treasure.

As a folklorist, I especially value those arts and tradi-
tions that are closest to the authentic roots of our culture,
and I congratulate our winners. You breathe life and hope
into America's creative legacy.

Bill Ivey

Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

Sophie George, a Yakama/Colville Indian
beadworker and one of this year's
National Heritage Fellows, once pointed
out a deceptively simple, fundamental
truth about the future of our cultural
heritage. She said, "The only way that
things will always be is if you keep them
the way you were taught." Her words
mark the common ground of this year's fifteen honorees,
who live in different regions of the country, represent a vari-
ety of cultural backgrounds, and practice strikingly distinc-
tive art forms. They all have experienced the beauty of
some part of their heritage, have come to be among the best
practitioners of their art form, and have labored to make it
part of the cultural future.

But to get to their cultural future, they have traveled
different paths. Some have modified the trappings of their
tradition to accommodate changes in the society in which
the tradition exists. Others have thought it more important
to adhere to the letter as well as to the spirit of their tradi-
tion, acting as "living libraries" of past achievement. All
have acted to ensure the well-being of their tradition in an
uncertain future.

Tonight these different paths cross, if only for a brief
moment in time, as these extraordinary keepers of their cul-
tural treasures come to Washington, DC to be recognized by
the National Endowment for the Arts for having kept their
part of the American living cultural heritage with us for all
to enjoy. As they pass by us on this cultural crossroads,
let's take a moment to reflect on the lessons they can teach
us about the quality and beauty of life and to celebrate
their successes. Please join me in a round of applause for
the 1998 National Heritage Fellows!

Qaa. ^tmjlK^

Dan Sheehy

Director, Folk & Traditional Arts

MASTER OF CEREMONIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NICK SPITZER is a scholar, documen-
tary producer, and radio host known
for his informed and witty style in
presenting traditional arts and artists,
cultures and communities to audiences
from Carnegie Hall to the National
Mall, from National Public Radio to
PBS. After a decade at the Smithsonian
— first as a senior folklife specialist, later an artistic director
of the Folk Masters series and co-editor of the book Public
Folklore — he returned to Louisiana where he had previously
served as the State Folklorist. Now Professor of Folklore
and Cultural Conservation at the University of New Orleans'
College of Urban and Public Affairs, Nick is known to pub-
lic radio audiences nationwide for his popular new series
American Routes — a weekly two-hour exploration of the
roots of popular music and popular roots music — distributed
by Public Radio International and heard in Washington on
Sundays on WAMU-FM. Having spent many years working
with zydeco musicians and African-French communities,
Spitzer is currently writing a book about Creole music, festi-
val and cultural survival.

APSARA ENSEMBLE

Cambodian traditional dancers and musicians

EDDIE BLAZONCZYCK

Polish -American musician/bandleader

BRUCE CAESAR

Sac and Fox/Pawnee German silver artist

DALE CALHOUN

Anglo-American boat builder

ANTONIO DE LA ROSA

Tejano conjunto accordionist

EPSTEIN BROTHERS

Jewish klezmer musicians

SOPHIA GEORGE

Yakama-Colville beadworker

NADJESCHDA OVERGAARD.

Danish-American Hardanger needleworker

.8

10

11

12

HARILAOS PAPAPOSTOLOU.
Greek Byzantine chanter

ROEBUCK "POPS" STAPLES..

African- American Gospel/Blues musician

13

14

CLAUDE WILLIAMS...

African- American jazz/swing fiddler

15

THE NATIONAL HERITAGE
FELLOWS 1982-1997

16

CREDITS AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CREDITS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The 1998 National Heritage Fellowships ceremonies were pro-
duced for the National Endowment for the Arts by the National
Council for the Traditional Arts. The ceremonies were planned
and coordinated for the NCTA by Madeleine Remez.

NEA Staff

Dan Sheehy
Barry Bergey
Pat Sanders
Rose Morgan
Pat Makell

National Council for the Traditional Arts Staff

Rhona Campbell, intern

Rhonda Jenkins

Julia Olin

Segrid Pearson

Mark Puryear

Madeleine Remez

Chris Williams

Joseph T Wilson, Executive Director

Heritage Fellowships Concert

Master of Ceremonies, Nick Spitzer

Director, Murray Horwitz

Assistant Director, Jon Palmer Claridge

Production Manager, Tim Toothman

Production Assistant, K E Williams

Scene Design, Russell Metheny, K E Williams

Lighting Designer, Stefan Johnson

Sound Design/Production, Pete Reiniger

Monitor Engineer, E.L. Copeland

Slide Projection, Permere Presentation

Sign Language Interpreter, Hank Young

Video Production, Jim Garcia, Sam Negron

and Jimmy G. Productions
Radio Production, Mark Yacovone, WDUQ Pittsburgh
Program Book Design, Scott Severson/Signal

Communications, Inc.

The National Endowment for the Arts would like to express
it's appreciation to the National Council for the Traditional
Arts (NCTA) for its assistance in planning the 1998 National
Heritage Fellowships concert, the reception at the White House,
and other related events. NCTA is a private non-profit cor-
poration founded in 1933 and dedicated to the presentation
and documentation of folk and traditional arts in the United
States. The National Endowment for the Arts would also
like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the follow-
ing individuals, organizations and businesses:

The Honorable John Holum, Chairman of the Board, NCTA

WAMU-FM Radio

National Public Radio

Connecticut Commission on the Arts

Key Bridge Marriott

Aspen Hill Travel

Bob Banning Rentals

House of Musical Traditions

The staff at Lisner Auditorium

Mary Chipps

Daphne Shuttlesworth

Matthew McMillan

Harris Wray

Dr. William Lloyd Glover, Jr.

TARGET Stores is the corporate sponsor for this year's
National Heritage Fellowship events.

©TARGET

In several Southeast Asian countries and Indonesia, no artistic medium
is more intensely practiced or central to national identity than the
dance drama derived from the ancient Ramayana. Ornately-dressed
and rigorously-trained dancers perform highly controlled, stylized
movements expressing a narrative thread. The dance drama is accom-
panied by a small orchestra comprised mainly of sets of tuned gongs
and other instruments such as drums, xylophones, and oboes. In
Cambodia, the terror of the Khmer Rouge holocaust of the mid 1970s
devastated the primary institutions that supported dance drama, the
royal court and the University of Fine Arts. The tradition was uprooted
as dancers and musicians who survived the genocide fled to the United
States along with large numbers of their compatriots. Three of these
surviving artists were determined to keep their heritage a living part of
Cambodian life in the United States and formed the Apsara Dancers.

As a young girl, Moly Sam was captivated by the Apsaras, beauti-
ful female celestial figures which adorn the Angkor Vatt Temple and
appear in the ancient court repertory. Entering the Royal University of
Fine Arts at the age of 13, she studied under the highly revered dance
master Chheng Phon. Under his guidance, Moly gained the mastery of
the male role (neay rong). She was sent by Master Chheng Phon to study
and master the female role (neang) under the tutelage of the revered
grand dance master Chea Samy at the royal palace. "He was of the
conservative tradition of grand masters," says Moly. "He never gave
compliments to students. This is because perfection to us is an illusion,
a constant struggle to reach the higher realm."

Moly's husband Sam-Ang Sam began studying traditional
Cambodian music in the 1960s, learning the techniques of many tradi-
tional instruments and the repertoires of both dance drama and village
folk music. He married Moly in 1973 and took her with him to study in
the Philippines, before the Khmer Rouge takeover. They came to the
United States in 1977 as refugees, where they soon became involved in
efforts to preserve Cambodian identity and culture. Sam-Ang eventually
received a doctorate in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University and
has taught, performed, and organized throughout the United States.

Sam-Oeun Tes was raised on the Cambodian Royal Palace
grounds, and at the age of 14 was invited to study dance with her aunt,
a palace dancer. She started learning the male role: "I was dancing every
day from ten until two, then I'd go home to rest, and then go to her
house from four thirty until seven thirty to train more." The princess
later insisted she change to the female role and apprentice with Neak
Krou Bunnak, one of the court's most prestigious teachers. She came to
the United States in 1971, and when the Khmer Rouge began their reign
of terror she was motivated to train young dancers in the Washington,
D.C. area.

Moly and Sam-Ang teamed up with Sam-Oeun Tes's group, the
Cambodian-American Heritage Troupe, formed in 1980. They performed
at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts in 1981, and
have become much in demand for Cambodian and other public events
throughout the country. In 1986, Sam-Ang and Moly founded the
Apsara Ensemble, widely considered to be the top Cambodian perform-
ing arts ensemble outside Cambodia. When Moly and Sam-Ang reset-
tled in the Washington, D.C. area they intensified their collaboration
with Sam-Oeun Tes, performing and teaching regularly. In 1 994, Sam-Ang
Sam received a Mac Arthur Foundation fellowship that allowed him to con-
tinue his cultural preservation work both in the United States and in
renascent Cambodia.

APSARA
ENSEMBLE

Cambodian traditional dancers and musicians

Sam-Oeun Tes

I

Sam

Alo/y .Vj/;/

EDDIE
BLAZONCZYCK

Polish-American musician/bandleader

In the decades around the turn of the century, millions of Polish,
Slovenian, Croatian, Austrian, German, and Bohemian immigrants
resettled in the United States. They brought with them a wide variety of
distinctive languages, customs, and local music and social dance forms.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the polka had become widely popular
throughout Central Europe. In the new American social milieu, it
served as an important touchstone of shared heritage among people of
different Central European heritages. While distinctive, ethnic-specific
polka styles emerged in this country, they usually mixed the sounds of
American popular and country music into their style, reflecting the
changing cultural tastes of new generations. The "Chicago-style" polka
(often called "hop style") in which the dancers step double time, is one
of these forms. So great is its popularity that for millions of Americans
the Polish American "Chicago-style" is synonymous with "polka." It was
forged largely by one man — Eddie Blazonczyk.

Eddie Blazonczyk was born in Chicago in 1941, the son of immi-
grants from the rural Tatras Mountains region of southern Poland.
His parents owned a banquet hall, where Eddie heard some of the most
influential polka players of the day such as Steve Adamczyk and Eddie
Zima. When his father bought a new tavern in the Wisconsin northwoods
village of Hiles, Eddie was exposed to the musics of other Slavs,
Scandinavians, and "Kaintucks" — Kentuckians who came to work in
the timber-producing region. As a teenager, Blazonczyk began playing the
new popular rockabilly music with his group, Eddie Bell and the Hill
Boppers. When he moved back to Chicago in 1963, he rededicated
himself to the Polish music of his heritage.

Blazonczyk formed his own polka band, the Versatones, and creat-
ed the Bel-Aire record label. He worked to forge a new polka sound that
incorporated the more raucous approach of the much-admired Lil'
Wally Jagiello with the polished style of influential vocalist Marion Lush.
According to polka music expert Richard March of the Wisconsin Arts
Board, Blazonczyk's creative contributions and the magnitude of his
impact on American polka tradition are comparable to those of B.B.
King on blues and Bill Monroe on bluegrass: "He created a stylistic ren-
dering of the old folk music in a format that has been widely accepted,
has what is considered the ideal singing voice for the old Polish songs,
but also keeps his repertoire replenished with new original songs in both
English and Polish. He has a following which includes not only the tens
of thousands of polka dancers in every Polish-American community
nationwide, but younger musicians as well. There are literally dozens of
Polish polka bands whose fundamental base is Blazonczyk's line-up — a
concertina trading leads with a pair of parallel or unison trumpets, an
accordion doing 'bellows-shaking' to provide rhythm, and electric bass
guitar and drums." While he plays most of the polka instruments, Eddie
prefers the bass, which allows him to sing in his clear-toned, natural style.

Blazonczyk has been a powerful organizing force in the polka com-
munity and has received numerous honors for his work. He was one of
five co-founders of the International Polka Association, which work to
promote all styles of polka music. Year round, he promotes numerous
dances and festivals, including the five-day Polka Fireworks in Champion,
Pennsylvania and Bel-Aire Polka Days in Chicago. His record label has
recorded and distributed a wide range of polka musics. His singing, his
more than 50 recordings, and his band have been honored repeatedly
by organizations such as the United States Polka Association, the
International Polka Association, and the United Polka Association. In
1986, his recording "Polka Celebration" received a Grammy from the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Eddie Blazonczyk
and the Versatones estimate they have appeared more than 4,800 times
since they began in 1963.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans in North America, metalwork was
not widely practiced among Native Americans. Contact with
Spanish traders and craftsmen to the south, and later trade with
Europeans and Americans changed this dramatically over time.
Southern Plains groups exploited their strategic, central trading
location to obtain a wide variety of manufactured goods. Metal
goods were especially prized for their superior functional and deco-
rative properties. German silver, a non-ferrous alloy of nickel, cop-
per, and zinc, was invented in the early 1820s. Its combination of
hardness and ability to take a shine soon made it a preferred metal
for many Native American artisans, particularly in the Southern
Plains region. German silver is usually sold in sheets of various
thickness, and is cut, filed, stamped, engraved, and polished by the
artist into many kinds of jewelry and ceremonial objects such as
rings, brooches, breastplates, tiaras, roach (dance headdress) spread-
er, earrings, bracelets, combs, concho belts, neckerchief slides, and
decorative pins. This relatively new Native American crafts tradition
was well established by the last decades of the 19th century.

Pawnee/Sac and Fox metalsmith Bruce Caesar of Anadarko,
Oklahoma represents the third generation of metalsmiths in his
family. He was born in Iowa City, Iowa in 1952. His Pawnee father,
Julius, who was widely recognized as one of the most accomplished
and creative Native craftsmen working in German silver, won
numerous awards for his work. Bruce remembers starting to work
metal when he was seven years old. By the age of nine, he was
demonstrating jewelry-making in craft shows with his father. His
apprenticeship with his father was long and intense, and Bruce con-
tinues to build on his father's legacy of incorporating lapidary work
into his designs and signing his more elaborate commissioned
pieces. The inter-tribal Native American Church has been the inspi-
ration of "peyote jewelry," a style that incorporates important
sacred and ritual symbols such as the tipi, fan, rattle, and, most
importantly, the aquatic spirit bird that carries prayers.

Bruce Caesar has embraced the tradition of Southern Plains
metalsmithing, but at the same time has found his own unique
interpretations of traditional motifs. The thoughtful, refined designs
of his jewelry can be, in his words, "as simple as a sentence that
conveys a thought or as deep as an essay that conveys a whole
belief." The extraordinary quality of his designs and technique have
won him many awards, and he has been featured in major exhibits
such as Contemporary Southern Plains Indian Metalwork, orga-
nized by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, and featured in articles
in Oklahoma Today and Native Peoples Magazine. As time permits,
he offers demonstrations for schools, museums, and galleries. He
enjoys teaching young people, and his son Adam has been his prin-
cipal disciple. His work continues to balance tradition with an
adventurous outlook toward design possibilities. As he puts it, "I've
never had a helmet or hubcap ordered yet, but I'm sure in time one
will come along."

BRUCE
CAESAR

Sac and Vox/Pawnee German silver artist

DALE
CALHOUN

Anglo-American boat builder

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Boatbuilding, like architecture, marries form and function.
Throughout the world, some boat-types can be identified as indige-
nous to particular bodies of water and functional to specific aquatic
trades. The Reelfoot Lake "stumpjumper" is such a boat, and Dale
Calhoun is the master builder of this special freshwater craft.

Dale Calhoun was born in 1935 and spent most of his boyhood
around his father's boat shop near Reelfoot Lake in northwestern
Tennessee. The Calhoun family has made boats on Reelfoot Lake for
four generations. Joseph Marion Calhoun, Dale's great-grandfather,
was a farmer, bricklayer and blacksmith who moved to the area in the
early 1900s and built several boats. Dale's grandfather Boone Calhoun,
also a blacksmith, began boatbuilding in a serious way and refined the
design of the Calhoun family boats. Dale's father, William Calhoun,
was a full-time boatbuilder and built 100 to 150 boats per year on
Reelfoot Lake for 35 years. As inheritor of the Calhoun family
boatbuilding tradition, Dale got his start around the age of 14 when, as a
surprise, he quickly built a boat in his father's shop over a weekend while
his father was away on vacation. He has been making boats ever since.

Made from oak ribbing and cypress planks and coming to a point
on both ends, the stumpjumper got its name from its ability to slide
over and around the cypress knees, stumps and logs that are common
to Reelfoot Lake. This shallow, swampy floodplain lake near the
Mississippi River was formed by the famous 1811-12 New Madrid
earthquake. Innovations in boat design incorporated by the Calhoun
family include bow-facing oars, covering bottoms with fiberglass rather
than tin, the use of small gasoline-powered motors, and the addition of
a unique triangular propeller guard.

Although the popularity of aluminum johnboats has threatened to
replace handmade wooden boats in many locales, the stumpjumper is
still preferred around Reelfoot where local watermen value the quiet
efficiency of a wooden boat and the special symmetry and precision
craftsmanship of Calhoun boats. Dale does not ignore the aesthetic
dimensions of boatbuilding. He says, "Each one of these darn boats has
its own personality. People will say, 'What's two boards?' But each board
has its own personality. Each one is a little more flexible, more pliable,
not as stiff. That's the thing with building a boat. It's just like a house: If
a house is not straight and true or it's twisted, you're in a mess."

Now acclaimed as the last builder of the Reelfoot Lake stumpjumper,
Dale Calhoun has demonstrated his craft at the 1982 World's Fair in
Knoxville, the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife in Washington,
DC, the National Folk Festival in Chattanooga, and the Kentucky
Folklife Festival. Tennessee state folk arts coordinator Robert Cogswell
notes in his nomination letter: "The traditionality, distinctiveness, excel-
lence and dedication that Dale upholds in his work as a practicing
artisan exemplify all of the highest ideals which the National Heritage
Fellowships celebrate."

The Texas-Mexican conjunto, literally "ensemble," was born in the
late nineteenth century through the introduction of the Central
European button accordion into Mexican working class communities
in southern Texas. Mexican music of this region had been shaped by
the nineteenth-century European-derived dances: polka, schottische,
mazurka and waltz. This music was performed mainly on stringed
instruments. German, Czech, and Polish immigrants came to southern
Texas and Northern Mexico in the late 1 800s bringing the button
accordion. By the 1930s, pioneer conjunto performers such as Narciso
Martinez and Santiago Jimenez had made the accordion sound a stan-
dard part of Mexican-American life in Texas and beyond via the
emerging record and radio industries. The nueva generacion (new gen-
eration) movement that came after World War II created a conjunto
sound suited to larger dance halls and amplification, while remaining
loyal to the tastes of the tradition's working-class base. No conjunto
musician of this era was more prolific and influential than Antonio
"Tony" de la Rosa.

Born in 1931 in Sarita, Texas, a worker's hamlet on the King
Ranch, he was one of twelve children in a family of field laborers.
"All of us, my brothers and I, went out with my father. Tell me about
cucumbers, hoeing, tomatoes, onions-we did it all," he remembers. At
the age of six, his mother taught him to play harmonica. "Then I
heard the accordion on the radio. We were living on a hacienda where
my parents worked and I heard the accordion come from a radio in
the kitchen. I got hold of one and learned to pick out the chords." He
imitated the recordings of accordion pioneer Narciso Martinez, and at
the age of sixteen, he went to nearby Kingsville and played in the small
taverns there: "I spent a lot of time with my accordion on one side of
me and the shoeshine box on the other." In 1949, he made his first
recorded disc featuring two polkas entitled "Sarita" and "Tres Rios".
The next year he joined the Ideal label, where, according to conjunto
scholar Dr. Manuel Pena, "He began to turn out all the polkas that
were to make his name a household word among the tejano [Texas-
Mexican] working class. Beyond any doubt, by the mid-1950s de la
Rosa's conjunto was the most popular accordion group in Texas."
Also by this time, de la Rosa had codified the instrumentation of the
conjunto tejano that endures to this day: button accordion, amplified
bajo sexto [a Mexican 12-string guitar], electric bass, and drums. In
adding drums and replacing the upright acoustic bass with the electric
bass, he changed the musical style. The polka tempo slowed, ushering
in the new tacbuachito dance style with the slow, gliding movements of
the possum (tacuache). The accordion and bajo sexto were set free to
develop more individualistic stylistic nuances and a more deliberate,
staccato character marked his accordion melodies. His much-imitated
1956 instrumental rendition of the song "Atotonilco" hastened the
acceptance of his changes.

In addition to constantly touring throughout the United States to
wherever large numbers of farm workers are to be found, Tony de la
Rosa and his Conjunto de la Rosa (that has included two of his broth-
ers) has made over 75 long-play recordings and many single discs. He
was inducted into the Conjunto Music Hall of Fame in San Antonio in
1982. Pena sums up de la Rosa's place in music history: "To this day
Tony de la Rosa stands out as a larger-than-life icon of a style whose
cultural power few regional musicians in the Americas can match."

ANTONIO
DE LA ROSA

Tejano conjunto accordionist

EPSTEIN
BROTHERS

Jewish klezmer musicians

Max, Julius, and William Epstein

Both a cause and an effect in the recent resurgence of American Jewish
culture is the rediscovery and reinterpretation of the Yiddish instrumen-
tal music known as klezmer. Violinist Itzhak Perlman's 1996 television
documentary, CD recording, and concert tour In the Fiddler's House is
a tribute to klezmer's growing popularity. But this music was not
always so cherished. "Klezmer was a derogatory expression," says 86-
year-old clarinetist Max Epstein, referring to the music's early twenti-
eth-century association with low-class immigrants: "Jewish people
called musicians from Eastern Europe 'klezmer' in Yiddish. Anything a
klezmer played is called klezmer music." This music thrived in the
United States and enlivened Jewish celebrations and social occasions.
But, in a familiar pattern, the first generation born in the new country-
turns away from ethnic heritage while the next attempts to retain and
renew it. "Klezmer music dropped dead after the Holocaust," says 71-
year-old drummer brother Julius. "The American-born people wanted
rock, swing, jazz. But now they want that music. There's been a tremen-
dous renaissance." Today's zeydes "grandfathers" of this renaissance
are the brothers: Max, William (Willie), and Julius (Julie) Epstein.

They were born and raised in Manhattan's Lower East Side and in
Brooklyn. Their father was a garment worker, and their music-loving
mother was a seamstress and housewife. Max Epstein, the oldest,
began playing violin in silent movies at the age of 12. At age 16, he
learned the saxophone, then the clarinet. He was soon playing in
Rumanian and Russian Jewish cabarets. In this milieu, he learned from
senior immigrant musicians. In the opinion of klezmer scholar and
musician Joel Rubin, " he provides the most important link to the pre-
vious generations of Jewish klezmorim (professional instrumentalists)
from Eastern Europe. . . he was involved in some of the earliest Yiddish
radio broadcasts, and was a frequent guest in the orchestras of the
Yiddish Theater and in recording studios." William (Willie) Epstein,
born in 1919, became the leading Yiddish trumpeter of his generation,
working with leading Jewish dance and theater orchestras. Julius
Epstein, born in 1926, began accompanying his brother Max at the age
of 17, and earned a reputation as the leading drummer in Jewish music.

Following World War II, they and a fourth brother, Isidore (who
died in 1986) formed the Epstein Brothers Orchestra. In the 1950s and
1960s, they became known as "the kings of klezmer." The arrival of
many Hasidic Jews after the war spurred the demand for live music at
their celebrations, weddings, and bar mitzvahs, and the Epsteins
learned the distinctive Hasidic song repertory. They also learned tunes
required at other Jewish, Greek, and Italian weddings. They made
numerous recordings on the Tikva and Menora labels, including the
recently re-issued album from the late 1950s, Dukes of Frailachland.
After "retiring" to Broward County, Florida in the late 1960s, they
continued a regular performing schedule for senior centers, synagogues,
Jewish community centers, and Holocaust survivor groups. In a recent
"rediscovery", they have been featured in the award-winning 1996 film
A Tickle in the Heart, have produced new CD's such as The Epstein
Brothers Orchestra: Kings of Freylekh Land and The Epstein Brothers
Klezmer II. They have twice toured Europe. In 1997, they received a
Florida Folk Heritage Award from the Florida Department of State.

10

When ceramic beads were introduced to North America in the 1 9th
century, many Native Americans saw new potential for heightened
color and greater precision in a wide range of decorative expression.
The late 19th and early 20th century heyday of Native American bead-
working brought many regional and tribal styles of beadwork embroi-
dery, all reflecting deeply rooted motifs from previous generations. One
of these regional traditions is the Plateau style typified by the Yakama
beadwork of central Oregon and Washington. While the general mid-
century decline in the region's Native American cultural identity includ-
ed the slackening of interest in traditional crafts, there is now a resur-
gence of interest and fine artistry. One of the models of this revival is
Sophia "Sophie" George, a resident of Gresham, Oregon, and member
of the Yakama Indian Nation.

Born near The Dalles, Oregon at the ancient fishing grounds of
Celilo Falls, Sophie George descends from the Wasco, Cowlitz, and
Wenatchee bands of the Yakama and Colville tribes. She traveled
throughout the region and saw diverse traditional artwork made by
tribal ancestors. The art form fascinated her. Inspired and guided by her
mother, Elsie White, and maternal grandmother Ida Scowlole White,
she learned in the traditional manner, through observation and practice.
At five, she started stringing beads for her mother, grandmother, and
aunts. At 16, she began making her own pieces. Her grandmother
asked her to make a bag and to give it to her, a traditional practice
explained by Sophie George: "We always give away the very first thing
we make. When you give away your first making to your teacher, that
enables you to walk on that path." Walking the path takes time and
care. "They only show you once. You can't go back and keep asking,"
she explains. Sophie worked many years restoring old Indian artifacts,
learning old techniques in the process. Fascinated by the intricacy of the
designs, she started doing contour work in her beading: "I tried to put
my feet in my ancestors' shoes. I wanted to see through their eyes."

Oregon Historical Society's Folk Arts Coordinator Nancy Nusz
says, "Inspired by traditional patterns and techniques, her work
embodies the traditional values of her ancestors." Ms. George applies
her colorfully striking, exacting beadwork designs with nearly invisible
stitchwork to traditional handbags, dance regalia, wedding veils, moc-
casins, dresses, hair ornaments, and other pieces. Her evocative artistry
is coupled with a deep knowledge of the stories and meaning associated
with the motifs she portrays, such as hummingbirds, deer, bald eagles,
frogs, plants, and other aspects of nature.

"Sophie George is a model to our young people in pursuing tradi-
tional artistic practices," wrote Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Jerry
Meninick: "[She] is greatly appreciated by the Yakama Nation commu-
nity and her beadwork is an invaluable cultural resource." Her work is
also appreciated beyond her tribe, having been featured in numerous
museum collections and exhibits in the region, such as Masters of
Ceremony: Traditional Artists and Life's Passages of the Oregon
Historical Society and Of Hearts and Hands at the North Central
Washington Museum. She has worked hard to document her tribal her-
itage and to keep it a part of her people's cultural future. Ms. George
has demonstrated and taught her work to many others, and her daugh-
ter and five nieces have devoted themselves to beadwork. "The only-
way that things will always be is if you keep them the way you were
taught," she says. "My grandmother always stressed that."

SOPHIA
GEORGE

Yakama-Colvillc beadworker

ll Mi XWLL

1 1

NADJESCHDA
OVE RGAARD

Danish- American Hardanger needleworker

Embroidery is one of the most widely practiced forms of artistic expres-
sion among American women. Sales of embroidery materials and
instruction books and local classes in embroidery abound. A search of
the World Wide Web will turn up thousands of embroidery sites. Main
of these ethnically-rooted styles are practiced widely by embroider}
enthusiasts, regardless of their specific ethnic heritage, while being cher-
ished by others as a vehicle to maintain and express cultural heritage.
One of the best-known embroidery styles is Hardanger cutwork, origi-
nating in the Hardanger region of Norway and brought to this country
by Scandinavians of various nationalities. In Elk Horn, Iowa, the
American city with the largest concentration of Danish Americans,
Nadjeschda Overgaard is recognized as the twentieth-century fountain-
head of artistry in Hardanger embroidery tradition.

Nadjeschda Lynge was born in Siberia in 1905. Her Danish parents
were living in Siberia at the time, where her father worked to establish
creameries that would use Danish equipment. In 1915, they immigrated
to Elk Horn, Iowa, where Nadjeschda attended school and eventually
taught in rural elementary schools. In 1933, she married Niels
Overgaard, and they raised seven children. She always treasured her
Danish heritage, and took every opportunity to teach others the artistic
skills and cultural knowledge passed to her by her mother. "We certain-
ly were American, but I treasure my Danish heritage. . . I was brought
up Danish and I'm not satisfied with a substitute," she says.

Hardanger embroidery is a three-dimensional, open, "counted
thread" needlework. Traditionally, white cotton thread is applied to an
even-weave white linen, often 22 threads per inch. The fabric is cut in
squared, geometric patterns determined precisely through the counting
of threads in each cut. Then, a traditional repertoire of stitches, such as
the basic satin stitch, consisting of five stitches covering four threads of
fabric, are applied around the edges of the cutwork. This creates a
range of delicate, precise, and minutely detailed patterns. The loose ends
of the cut fabric are then interwoven into the embroidery, adding addi-
tional texture. Mrs. Overgaard's knowledge of both the technique of
Hardanger embroidery and its place in Danish heritage, as well as her
lifelong efforts to keep many other Danish traditions, have earned her a
special place among Danish-Americans. Cultural specialists such as Steven
Ohrn of the State Historical Society of Iowa and Rachelle Saltzman of the
Iowa Arts Council have called Mrs. Overgaard "a state and national trea-
sure who deserves to be recognized for her artistic skill and her preserva-
tion of her family's and community's Danish heritage."

Nadjeschda Overgaard has been a major force in keeping her her-
itage a part of modern life. This has been accomplished through many
years of and through her volunteer efforts to pass on knowledge of
embroidery, Danish language, culinary arts, Danish choral music, folk
dance, papirklip "papercutting," and Danish folk plays. "Anyone who
admires the work and wants to start, I help them," she says. Her six
daughters have followed in her footsteps, practicing, demonstrating,
and teaching Danish traditions to others. Her work was exhibited in the
milestone exhibition on Iowa folk crafts, Passing Time and Traditions
and is included in the collection of the State Historical Society of Iowa.

12

The traditional Byzantine chant of the Greek Orthodox church is
rooted in the music of medieval Byzantium, and the even earlier
musics of ancient Greece. Unlike modern-day Western church music
cast in a polyphonic, harmonic, choral style, Greek Orthodox chant is
marked by a single melody line juxtaposed with a more constant
drone voice (ison). The melody is governed by a complex system of
eight ihoi "modes," each with its own scale, melodic characteristic,
and affect or "mood." In the early stages of Byzantine music, the nota-
tional system was similar to "stenographic" notation. As the centuries
progressed, the system evolved. Today, Byzantine music possesses its
own complete notation system. The psaltis "chanter" improvises an
interpretation of the melodic skeleton applying melodic ornaments
and other nuances of performance that express ifo — a "mood" that
reflects the meaning of the sacred poetic text, the liturgical moment,
and the immediate context. In the words of seventh-generation psaltis
Harilaos Papapostolou, in expressing ifos, the chanter directs his cre-
ativity to the purpose of devotion, creating "the sound that facilitates
prayer, that becomes the bridge between man and God, not a showcase
for the performer." Papapostolou is the driving force behind a growing
movement to keep this deeply rooted tradition a part of Greek-
American cultural and religious life.

Harilaos Papapostolou was born and raised in the city of Agrinion
Greece, a long-time center of Byzantine chant. He was the son of an
Orthodox priest in a family boasting many generations of priests. He
apprenticed with a traditional psalti at the age of five, eventually spend-
ing long hours each day mastering the enormous liturgical repertoire
that was part of the day-to-day liturgical cycle. After graduating from
high school, he continued to study both Byzantine music and Western
music at the Athens Conservatory. In addition to receiving degrees in
both Byzantine and Western music, he simultaneously received his degree
in Theology from the University of Athens. This knowledge is a crucial
factor that gives one the needed insight into understanding and inter-
preting the ecclesiastical hymns of the Orthodox church. In 1967, he
accepted the position of protopsalti "lead chanter" at St. Sophia's
Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where he remains. In the United States,
he found that the Western-based four-part harmony choral style with
organ accompaniment had nearly eclipsed the more traditional chant.
Ironically, the complex, "Oriental" sounding modes and melodies were
thought too "primitive" by many Greek-Americans who had little prior
exposure to the tradition.

Today, Byzantine chant is enjoying the beginnings of a revival
among Orthodox church members and increased attention from the
public at large. This is largely due to Papapostolou's superb artistry, his
teaching, his personal example embodying the values of humility and
devotional purpose, and his creative adaptations of traditional chants
to modern American circumstances. He has taken on dozens of appren-
tices and offered public demonstrations. In addition to his breadth of
repertoire, technical skill, and devotion to his tradition, it is his extraor-
dinary expressive abilities for which he is most praised by connoisseurs.
In the words of Bishop Metropolitan Silas of New Jersey, "Harilaos
Papapostolou's interpretation is inspiring; his rendition of the musical
modes precise, his knowledge of the nuances ... is rare among
chanters ... He is, in short, the possessor of skills and knowledge that
have all but disappeared in this country and are imperiled even in the
rest of the Orthodox world."

HARILAOS
PAPAPOSTOLOU

(•reck Byzantine chan

ROEBUCK
-POPS-
STAPLES

African-American Gospel/Blues musician

The gospel and blues music of African-American artists that developed
in the late nineteenth century and early in this century are precursors of
much of America's popular music. The blues artists drew inspiration
from everyday life in composing their songs incorporating their person-
al experiences, interpersonal relationships, and the glaring contradic-
tions of life under the harsh system of racial segregation. Early gospel
artists also made use of contemporary events and often drew on these
same sources to elucidate the timeless wisdom and morals of the Bible.
While both traditions have shared some common themes, musical
forms, and techniques, there are differences that have made it difficult
for an artist to play both styles of music and be recognized in both circles.
Blind Willie Johnson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Reverend Gary Davis
are among the few who have succeeded.

Born in Winona, Mississippi in 1914, Roebuck "Pops" Staples
drew from both traditions to forge a sound that transcends their stylis-
tic divide. Winona is located in the Mississippi Delta, a region where
many influential blues musicians began their composing and perform-
ing. It is home to a distinct style of blues. From his early years Pops
recalls listening to a capella singers in churches and singing gospel
songs at home with family and neighbors. As a teenager he took up the
guitar, inspired by legendary blues artists such as Charlie Patton,
Barbecue Bob, and Big Bill Broonzy. In later years, Muddy Waters and
Howlin' Wolf would influence his style. Although he admired these
artists, Pops developed his guitar style to accompany religious music. He
retained an attraction to religious music and sang with a local gospel
group, the Golden Trumpets.

Like many others who sought a better life than sharecropping
offered, Pops and his wife Oceola, moved their family to Chicago in
1936. Pops took jobs in meat packing, steel mills and in construction. In
1948, he formed the Staple Singers with daughters Cleotha, Mavis, and
son Pervis. They began singing at home and then in local churches. Pops
says of the early years, "We just wanted to have music in the house,
that's all." Their first jobs on the road took them to New Orleans and
then to Jackson, Mississippi. The group first recorded in 1 953 and had
their first success with the 1957 release "Uncloudy Day." During this
period Pops continued his day job and maintained a settled home life for
his family. After his youngest daughter Mavis finished high school, Pops
began to pursue work for the group on a full-time basis. As the group
perfected a distinct sound based on vocal harmonies and on Pops' gui-
tar, they became known as "the First Family of Gospel."

Pops took his duties as a community leader seriously and sought to
develop music for a broad audience, while holding to the tradition. As
the Civil Rights movement gained momentum, The Staples repertoire
reflected these social changes. They sang songs inspired by the struggle
with positive and progressive messages and became good friends with
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After the assassination of Dr. King, the
Staple Singers released a memorable song "A Long Walk to D.C.," in
memory of their friend. Daughter Yvonne replaced Pervis when he
entered the military in 1971. The Staples had their biggest commercial
success in the 1970s with "Respect Yourself" (1971), "I'll Take You
There" (1974), and "Let's Do It Again" (1976).

In the 1980s, in a time when he was expected to plan retirement,
Pops began to pursue a solo career. He has released two solo albums —
"Peace in the Neighborhood" and "Father Father," the latter winning a
Grammy award in 1994. With a keen sense of observation and gener-
ous heart he is addressing through music the social ills he sees crippling
communities across the nation and the world. Through his music he
continues the positive, righteous and spiritual mission he took up in
Mississippi many years ago.

14

Musicians have been "Goin' to Kansas City" since the early 1920s to
test their chops and find work with some of the giants of a unique lyri-
cal style of jazz called swing. In the vicinity of 12th Street and Vine in
that city today you can still hear musicians jamming after-hours at the
old Black musicians' hall. If lucky, you might hear someone call out for
"Fiddler" to take a break. The tag "Fiddler" is reserved for just one
person — Claude Williams. Williams has been a presence on the Kansas
City jazz scene since he moved there in 1928 attracted to the clubs,
cabarets and speakeasies of this Prohibition-era swing capital of the
southwestern territory. Out of this musical mecca came Count Basie,
Charlie Parker and Claude "Fiddler" Williams.

Born in 1908 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Claude was, by the age of
ten, playing the guitar, mandolin, banjo and cello in his brother-in-law's
string band. (Among the oldest of American traditions the African
American string band can be traced to early colonial times.) Around the
same time young Claude heard Joe Venuti play jazz violin at a local out-
door concert. Muskogee was segregated then and no provision had
been made for black people to attend. But of all the patrons who heard
Venuti in Muskogee that night, it was the black kid behind the fence
who heard him best. Claude soon launched what has turned into his
eighty-year career as a swing fiddler. In the late 1920s Claude traveled
the black vaudeville circuits of the southwest and midwest, "sleeping in
the car and under it at times." After moving to Kansas City in 1928, he
played and toured with a variety of bands including the Clouds of Joy,
led first by Terrance Holder and then Andy Kirk. He worked with the
Cole Brothers, featuring the brilliant pianist and fine singer Nat "King"
Cole. In 1936 Claude joined the Count Basie Band and played guitar on
Basie's first commercial recordings and toured extensively with him.
Ironically, although the fiddle was his instrument of choice, Williams
was named "Best Guitarist of the Year" in a Downbeat national readers'
poll the year after recording with Basie.

In 1937 Williams returned to the violin and Kansas City where he
formed his own group. For forty years he played and toured with a
variety of jazz bands, ranging from a short stint with a Works Progress
Administration (WPA) band to a long-time collaboration with Kansas
City master Jay McShann. While the distinctive sound of swing jazz
continued to develop and attract fans to both the dance floor and the
record store, the violin became less and less common as a lead instru-
ment, thanks largely to the rising dominance of the saxophone. Williams
remained firmly committed to his fiddle and to the traditional sounds of
his region. He continued to perform in relative obscurity, a legend
among fellow musicians and in the Kansas City area, and a generous
teacher glad to instruct younger musicians on the finepoints of swing fiddle.

More recently his extraordinary musical abilities and his contribu-
tions to our musical heritage have been recognized. He has appeared at
the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Nice Jazz Festival and the Smithsonian
Festival of American Folklife. In 1989 he performed in the popular
Broadway show "Black and Blue" and in that same year gained much
attention in a tour entitled "Masters of the Folk Violin." The showstop-
ping finale of the program included a duet featuring Williams and an
aspiring 16-year-old country fiddler and singer named Alison Krauss.
Joe Wilson, organizer of the tour, described Claude as both "the oldest
and the newest" of its performers, "the last living link to the old black
string band tradition and an inventor of a unique jazz violin sound that
he continues to expand each time he steps on stage."

This year, a few days after his 90th birthday, Claude performed at
the White House with friends guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and bassist
Keter Betts,providing music for tap master Jimmy Slyde, a great friend
from "Black and Blue."

CLAUDE
WILLIAMS

African- American jazz/su <ing fiddler

THE NATIONAL

HERITAGE

FELLOWSHIP

AWARDEES

1982-1997

1982

Dewey Balfa*
Cajun Fiddler
Basile, LA

Joe Heaney"
Irish Singer
Brooklyn, NY

Tommy Jarrell""
Appalachian Fiddler
Mt. Airy, NC

Bessie Jones *

Georgia Sea Island Singer

Brunswick, GA

George Lopez *
Santos Woodcarver
Cordova, NM

Brownie McGhee::'
Blues Guitarist
Oakland, CA

Hugh McGraw
Shape Note Singer
Bremen, GA

Lydia Mendoza
Mexican-American Singer
Houston, TX

Bill Monroe *
Bluegrass Musician

Nashville, TN

Elijah Pierce""
Carver/Painter
Columbus, OH

Adam Popovich::"
Tamburitza Musician
Dolton, IL

Georgeann Robinson '
Osage Ribbonworker
Bartlesville, OK

Duff Severe
Saddle Maker
Pendleton, OR

Philip Simmons
Ornamental Ironworker
Charleston, SC

Sanders "Sonny" Terry *
Blues Musician
Holliswood, NY

1983

Sister Mildred Barker *
Shaker Singer
Poland Springs, ME

Rafael Cepeda""

Bomba Musician/Dancer

Santurce, PR

Ray Hicks

Appalachian Storyteller
Banner Elk, NC

Stanley Hicks *

Appalachian Musician/Storyteller/

Instrument Maker

Vilas, NC

John Lee Hooker
Blues Guitarist/Singer
San Carlos, CA

Mike Manteo*
Sicilian Marionettist
Staten Island, NY

Narciso Martinez ::'

Texas-Mexican Accordionist/Composer

San Benito, TX

Lanier Meaders
Potter
Cleveland, GA

Almeda Riddle""
Ballad Singer
Greers Ferry, AR

Simon St. Pierre
French-American Fiddler
Smyrna Mills, ME

Joe Shannon
Irish Piper
Chicago, IL

Alex Stewart"'
Cooper/Woodworker
Sneedville, TN

Ada Thomas"
Chitimacha Basketmaker
Charenton, LA

Lucinda Toomer*

Black Quilter
Columbus, GA

Lem Ward"

Decoy Carver/Painter

Crisfield, MD

Dewey Williams"'
Shape Note Singer
Ozark, AL

1984

Clifton Chenier*
Creole Accordionist
Lafayette, LA

Bertha Cook"'

Knotted Bedspread Maker

Boone, NC

Joseph Cormier
Cape Breton Violinist
Waltham, MA

Elizabeth Cotton"'

Black Songster/Songwriter

Syracuse, NY

Burlon Craig
Potter

Vale, NC

Albert Fahlbusch

Hammered Dulcimer Maker/Player

Scottsbluff, NE

Janie Hunter

Black Singer/Storyteller

Johns Island, SC

Mary Jane Manigault
Black Seagrass Basket Maker
Mt. Pleasant, SC

Genevieve Mougin"'
Lebanese-American Lace Maker
Bettendorf, IA

Martin Mulvihill"'
Irish-American Fiddler
Bronx, NY

Howard "Sandman'
Black Tap Dancer
New York, NY

Sims

16

Ralph Stanley

Appalachian Banjo Player/Singer

Coeburn, VA

Margaret Tafoya

Santa Clara Pueblo Potter

Espanola, NM

Dave Tarras*
Klezmer Clarinetist
Brooklyn, NY

Paul Tiulana::"

Eskimo Maskmaker/Dancer/Singer

Anchorage, AK

Cleofes Vigil*

Hispanic Storyteller/Singer

San Cristobal, NM

Emily Kau'i Zuttermeister*
Hula Master
Kaneohe, HI

1985

Eppie Archuleta
Hispanic Weaver
San Luis Valley, CO

Periklis Halkias
Greek Clarinetist
Astoria, Queens, NY

Jimmy Jausoro
Basque Accordionist
Boise, ID

Mealii Kalama::"
Hawaiian Quilter
Honolulu, HI

Lily May Ledford*
Appalachian Musician/Singer
Lexington, KY

Leif Melgaard::"
Norwegian Woodcarver
Minneapolis, MN

Bua Xou Mua
Hmong Musician
Portland, OR

Julio Negron-Rivera

Puerto Rican Instrument Maker

Morovis PR

Alice New Holy Blue Legs
Lakota Sioux Quill Artist
Oglala, SD

Glenn Ohrlin

Cowboy Singer/Storyteller/Illustrator

Mountain View, AR

Henry Townsend

Blues Musician/Songwriter

St. Louis, MO

Horace "Spoons" Williams*
Spoons/Bones Player/Poet
Philadelphia, PA

1986

Alfonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin
Black Creole Accordionist
Eunice, LA

Earnest Bennett
Anglo-American Whittler
Indianapolis, IN

Helen Cordero*
Pueblo Potter
Cochiti, NM

Sonia Domsch

Czech-American Bobbin Lace Maker

Atwood, KS

Canray Fontenot*
Black Creole Fiddler
Welsh, LA

John Jackson

Black Songster/Guitarist

Fairfax Station, VA

Peou Khatna

Cambodian Court Dancer/Choreographer

Silver Spring, MD

Valerio Longoria
Mexican-American Accordionist
San Antonio, TX

Joyce Doc Tate Nevaquaya::'
Comanche Indian Flutist
Apache, OK

Luis Ortega

Hispanic-American Rawhide Worker

Paradise, CA

Ola Belle Reed

Appalachian Banjo Picker/Singer
Rising Sun, MD

Jenny Thlunaut::"

Tlingit Chilkat Blanket Weaver

Haines, AK

Nimrod Workman*
Appalachian Ballad Singer
Mascot, TN/Chattaroy, V

1987

Juan Alindato
Carnival Maskmaker
Ponce, PR

Louis Bashell

Slovenian Accordionist/Polka Master

Greenfield, \\ I

Genoveva Castellanoz

Mexican-American Corona Maker
Nyssa, OR

Thomas Edison "Brownie" Ford*
Anglo-Comanche Cowboy
Singer/Storyteller
Hebert, LA

Kansuma Fujima
Japanese-American Dancer
Los Angeles, CA

Claude Joseph Johnson"
African-American Religious
Singer/Orator
Atlanta, GA

Raymond Kane

Hawaiian Slack Key Guitarist/Singer

Wai'anae, HI

Wade Mainer

Appalachian Banjo Picker/Sin

Flint, MI

Sylvester Mcintosh
Crucian Singer/Bandleader

St. Croix, VI

Allison "Totie" Montana

March Gras Chief/Costume Maker

New Orleans, LA

Alex Moore, Sr.::'
African-American Blues Pianist
Dallas, TX

ilio* and Senaida Romero
Hispanic-American Craftsworkers in Tin
and Embroidery
Santa Fe, NM

Newton Washburn
Split Ash Basketmak*

Littleton, Nl I

1988

Pedro Ayala*

Mexican- American Accordionist

Donna, TX

Kepka Belton

Czech-American Egg Painter
Ellsworth, KS

Amber Densmore*

New England Quilter/Needleworker

Chelsea, VT

Michael Flatley
Irish-American Stepdancer
Palos Park, IL

Sister Rosalia Haberl
German-American Bobbin Lacemaker
Hankinson, ND

John Dee Holeman
African-American
Dancer/Musician/Singer
Durham, NC

Albert "Sunnyland Slim" Luandrew::'
African-American Blues Pianist/Singer
Chicago, IL

Yang Fang Nhu

Hmong Weaver/Embroiderer

Detroit, MI

Kenny Sidle

Anglo-American Fiddler
Newark, OH

Willie Mae Ford Smith'1"
African-American Gospel Singer
St. Louis, MO

Clyde "Kindy" Sproat

Hawaiian Cowboy Singer/Ukulele Player

Kapa'au, HI

Arthel "Doc" Watson
Appalachian Guitar Player/Singer
Deep Gap, NC

1989

John Cephas

Piedmont Blues Guitarist/Singer

Woodford, VA

The Fairfield Four
African-American a capella Gospel
Singers
Nashville, TN

Jose Gutierrez

Mexican Jarocho Musician/Singer

Norwalk, CA

Richard Avedis Hagopian
Armenian Oud Player
Visalia, CA

Christy Hengel

German-American Concertina Maker

New Ulm, MN

Ilias Kementzides
Pontic Greek Lyra Player
Norwalk, CT

Ethel Kvalheim
Norwegian Rosemaler
Stoughton, WI

Vanessa Paukeigope Morgan
Kiowa Regalia Maker
Anadarko, OK

Mabel E. Murphy
Anglo-American Quilter
Fulton, MO

La Vaughn E. Robinson
African-American Tapdancer
Philadelphia, PA

Earl Scruggs
Bluegrass Banjo Player
Madison, TN

Harry V. Shourds
Wildfowl Decoy Carver
Seaville, NJ

Chesley Goseyun Wilson
Apache Fiddle Maker
Tucson, AZ

1990

Howard Armstrong

African-American String Band Musician

Detroit, MI

Em Bun

Cambodian Silk Weaver

Harrisburg, PA

Natividad Cano

Mexican Mariachi Musician

Monterey Park, CA

Giuseppe and Raffaela DeFranco
Southern Italian Musicians and Dancers
Belleville, NJ

Maude Kegg

Ojibwe Storyteller/Craftsman/Tradition

Bearer

Onamie, MN

Kevin Locke
Lakota Flute

Player/Singer/Dancer/Storyteller
Mobridge, SD

Marie McDonald
Hawaiian Lei Maker
Kamuela, HI

Wallace McRae
Cowboy Poet
Forsyth, MT

Art Moilanen
Finnish Accordionist
Mass City, MI

Emilio Rosado
Woodcarver
Utuado, PR

Robert Spicer
Flatfoot Dancer
Dickson, TN

Douglas Wallin
Appalachian Ballad Singer
Marshall, NC

1991

Etta Baker

African-American guitarist
Morgantown, NC

George Blake

Native American craftsman (Hupa-Yurok)

Hoopa, CA

Jack Coen

Irish-American flautist
Bronx, NY

Rose Frank

Native American cornhusk weaver (Nez

Perce)

Lapwai, ID

Fduardo "Lalo" Guerrero
Mexican-American singer/guitarist/composer
Cathedral City, CA

Khamvong Insixiengmai
Southeast Asian singer (Lao)
Fresno, CA

Don King

Western saddlemaker

Sheridan, WY

Riley "B.B." King

African-American bluesman

Itta Bena, MI and Las Vegas, NV

Esther Littlefield

Alaskan regalia maker (Tlingit)

Sitka, AK

Seisho "Harry" Nakasone
Okinawan-American musician
Honolulu, HI

Irvan Perez

Isleno (Canary Island) singer

Poydras, LA

Morgan Sexton *

Appalachian banjo player/singer

Linefork, KY

Nikitas Tsimouris

Greek-American musician (bagpipe player)

Tarpon Springs, FL

Gussie Wells

African-American quilter
Oakland, CA

Arbie Williams
African-American quilter
Oakland, CA

Melvin Wine
Appalachian fiddler
Copen, WV

1992

Francisco Aguabella
Afro-Cuban drummer
Manhattan Beach, CA

Jerry Brown

Potter (southern stoneware tradition)

Hamilton, AL

Walker Calhoun

Cherokee musician/dancer/teacher

Cherokee, NC

Clyde Davenport
Appalachian fiddler
Monticello, KY

Belle Deacon
Athabascan basketmaker
Grayling, AK

Nora Ezell

African-American quilter
Eutaw, AL

Gerald R. Hawpetoss
Menominee/Potowatomi regalia maker
Milwaukee, WI

Fatima Kuinova
Bukharan Jewish singer
Rego Park, NY

John Naka
Bonsai sculptor
Los Angeles, CA

Ng Sheung-Chi

Chinese Toissan muk 'yu folk singer

New York, NY

Marc Savoy

Cajun accordion maker/musician

Eunice, LA

Othar Turner

African-American fife player
Senatobia, MS

T Viswanathan

South Indian flute master

Middletown, CT

1993

Santiago Almeida
Texas-Mexican conjunto musician
Sunnyside, Washington

Kenny Baker
Bluegrass fiddler
Cottontown, Tennessee

Inez Catalon
French Creole singer
Kaplan, Louisiana

Nicholas & Elena Charles
Yupik woodcarver/maskmaker and skin-
sewer
Bethel, Alaska

Charles Hankins
Boatbuilder
Lavallette, New Jersey

Nalani Kanaka'ole & Pualani
Kanaka'ole Kanahele
Hula Masters
Hilo, Hawaii

Everett Kapayou

Native American singer (Mesquakie tribe)

Tama, Iowa

Mcintosh County Shoutt

African-American spiritual/shout per-
formers
Townsend, Georgia

Elmer Miller-
Bit and spur maker/silversmith
Nampa, Idaho

Jack Owens *

Blues singer/guitarist

Bentonia, Mississippi

Mone & Vanxay Saenphimmachak

Lao weaver/needleworker and loommaker

St. Louis, Missouri

Liang-xing Tang

Chinese-American pipa (lute) player
Bayside, New York

1994

Liz Carroll

Irish-American fiddler
Chicago, IL

Clarence Fountain & the Blind Boys
African American gospel singers
Atlanta, GA

Manr Mitchell Gabriel
Native American basketmaker
(Passamaquoddy)
Princeton, ME

Johnny Gimble

Anglo fiddler, (Western Swing)

Dripping Springs, TX

Frances Varos Graves

Hispanic American colcha embroidery

Ranchos de Taos, \M

Violet Hilbert

Native American storyteller / conservator

(Skagit)

Seattle, WA

Sosei Shizuyc Matsumoto
Japanese tea ceremony master
Los Angeles, (

D.L. Menard

Franco- American Cajun musician / song\

Frath, LA

Simon Shaheen

Arab American oud player

Brooklyn, NY

Lily Vorperian

Armenian (Marash-style) embroidery

Glendale, CA

Elder Roma Wilson

African American harmonica player

Blue Springs, MS

Buck Ramsey'

Anglo-American cowboy poet and singer

Amarillo, IX

1995

Bao Mo-Li

Chinese-American jing-erhu player

Flushing, NY

Mary Holiday Black
Navajo basketmaker
Mexican Hat, UT

Lyman Enloe::'

Anglo-American old time fiddler

Lee's Summit, MO

Donny Golden
Irish-American step dancer
Brooklyn, NY

Wayne Henderson
Appalachian luthier
Mouth of Wilson, VA

Bea Ellis Hensley
Appalachian blacksmith
Spruce Pine, NC

Nathan Jackson
Tlingit Alaskan
woodcarver/metalsmith/dancer
Ketchikan, AK

Danongan Kalanduyan
Filipino-American kulintang musician
San Francisco, CA

Robert Jr. Lockwood

African American Delta blues guitarist

Cleveland, OH

Israel "Cachao" Lopez
Afro-Cuban bassist, composer, band-
leader
Miami, FL

Nellie Star Boy Menard
Lakota Sioux quiltmaker
Rosebud, SD

1996

Obo Addy

African American drummer/leader

Portland, OR

Paul Dahlin

Swedish American fiddler
Minneapolis, MN

Juan Gutierrez

Puerto Rican drummer/leader

New York, NY

Solomon & Richard Ho'opi'i
Hawaiian singers
Wailuku, HI

Will Keys

Anglo American banjo player

Gray, TN

Joaquin Lujan
Guamian Blacksmith
GMF Guam

Eva McAdams
Shoshone crafts/beader
Fort Washakie, WY

John Mealing & Cornelius Wright""
African American work songs
Birmingham, AL

Vernon Owens

Anglo American potter

Seagrove, NC

Betty Pisio Christenson
Ukrainian-American pysanky
Suring, WI

Dolly Spencer
Inupiat dollmaker
Homer, AK

1997

Edward Babb

"Shout" Band Gospel musician &

Band Leader

Jamaica, NY

Charles Brown

West Coast Blues Pianist & Composer

Berkeley, CA

Gladys LeBlanc Clark

Acadian (Cajun) Spinner & Weaver

Duson, LA

Georgia Harris ::
Catawba Potter
Atlanta, GA

Ali Akbar Khan

North Indian Sarod Player & Raga

Compose r

San Anselmo, CA

Ramon Jose Lopez
Santero & Metalsmith
Santa Fe, NM

Jim & Jesse McReynolds
Bluegrass Musicians
Gallatin, TN

Phong Nguyen

Vietnamese Musician & Scholar

Kent, OH

Hystercine Rankin
African-American Quilter
Lorman, MS

Hua Wenyi

Chinese Kunqu Opera Singer

Arcadia, CA

Francis Whitaker

Blacksmith/Ornamental Ironworker
Carbondale, CO

* deceased

PHOTO CREDIT LIST
Apsara Ensemble: Sam-Ang Sam - Evan

Sheppard; Moly Sam - Sam-Ang Sam;

Sam-Oeun Tes - courtesy of Cambodian

American Heritage
Eddie Blazonczyk - Wm. A. Crooks
Bruce Caesar - Settle Studio
Dale Calhoun - Robert Cogswell
Tony de la Rosa - Frank Estrada
Epstein Brothers - Archives Julie Epstein,

Epstein Brothers
Sophia "Sophie" George - courtesy of

Oregon Folklife Program
Nadjescha Overgaard - Steve Ohrn
Harilaos Papapostolou - courtesy of

the Artist
Roebuck "Pops" Staples - Paul Natkin
Claude "The Fiddler" Williams - Russ

Dantzler

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