Goingback Chiltoskey

North Carolina · born or raised1907–2000

Cherokee woodcarver and model maker

Born in Qualla Boundary
Lived in Qualla Boundary
Studied at Cherokee High School

Quotations with a citation

I never had any store-bought toys, so I made things to play with. My dad made things that were needed around the house—spoons, handles for tools—most everything we had had to be made. I watched him make things; I guess I just grew up with it.

I had to learn the English language, which is the foreign language. It is not an American language.

We had no tourists then, but I sold my carvings to teachers for twenty-five cents each. I was rich when I got that much. I’d hoed corn for fifty cents a day—ten hours. So when I got twenty-five cents for a carving, that spurred me on.

At the end of the school year, I came back and gave my mother fifty dollars. Then I stayed away from home for three years...When I came back, my mother still had some of that money.