Cherokee Heritage Trails

Tribal elder Goingback Chiltoskey was a master woodcarver who influenced several generations of Cherokee carvers. His work includes carvings of animal and human subjects, often in native woods such as cherry, walnut, holly, apple, and buckeye, but he also carved request orders from exotic woods. In addition to freestanding pieces, he carved large bas reliefs. Goingback Chiltoskey said he always thought of his own trademark as being a smooth finished piece of wood with a minimum of ne detail.

Born in the Piney Grove community of the Qualla Indian Boundary in 1907, Goingback Chiltosky began his long and diverse career of carving at the age of ten when his brother Watty gave him a knife and a few instructions. Forced to attend the Cherokee boarding school, where only English could be spoken, he found comfort in whittling wood. Eventually, he learned he could sell these small carvings. After fishing boarding school, he attended high school at Parker District School in Greenville, South Carolina, because of its woodcarving program. He continued his studies of woodcarving and other crafts at Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, and at the U.S. Indian School in Sante Fe, New Mexico, before returning home in 1935 to teach woodworking and woodcarving at Cherokee High School.

In 1942, G.B. Chiltoskey moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was soon making scale models for invasion maps and bombing targets during World War II. Besides a short stint in Hollywood making models for movie sets, he continued working for the government until 1966. During visits home to Cherokee, he met Mary Ulmer, a teacher and historian who was very interested in revitalizing Cherokee culture. He helped Mary write To Make My Bread, a set of Cherokee recipes largely based on his mother's cooking; it was the first of three books on which they were to collaborate. G.B. and Mary were married in 1956. The Artist and the Storyteller, Goingback and Mary Chiltoskey: A Cherokee Legend, by Mary Galloway, tells the story of their lives.

Goingback Chiltosky has been honored for his exceptional art work. His pieces have been displayed in numerous exhibitions, included in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, and have been featured in newspapers and magazine articles. Museums, church sanctuaries, and individual collectors have commissioned carvings from him. As a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and as past vice-president of the Indian-owned and operated Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Goingback Chiltoskey demonstrated his dedication to his community and to the growth and development of numerous Cherokee artistic traditions. Visitors to Cherokee can see his carvings on display in the permanent collections of Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual of the Cherokee Indian.