Jeremiah "Jerry" Wolfe (September 28, 1924 – March 12, 2018) was a respected elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. In 2013 he was awarded the title of "Beloved Man" by his tribe, an honor that had not been given out for more than 200 years. Wolfe grew up in the Big Cove community on the

Qualla Boundary The Qualla Boundary or The Qualla is territory held as a land trust by the United States government for the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who reside in western North Carolina. The area is part of the large historic Chero ...

in North Carolina. He was one of the last Cherokee stonecutters, a stickball caller, a storyteller, and a US Navy and World War II veteran. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Western Carolina University. He was the recipient of ''The Order of the Long Leaf Pine'' in March 2017. He was a fluent speaker of the

Cherokee language 200px, Number of speakers Cherokee or Tsalagi ( chr, ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, ) is an endangered-to-moribund Iroquoian language and the native language of the Cherokee people. ''Ethnologue'' states that there were 1,520 Cherokee speaker ...

and supported teaching it to young people to revive and preserve the language. In this role, he was interviewed for the documentary "First Language – The Race to Save Cherokee". In July 2021, a segment of

U.S. Route 441 U.S. Route 441 (US 441) is a auxiliary route of U.S. Route 41. It extends from US 41 in Miami, Florida to US 25W in Rocky Top, Tennessee. Between its termini, US 441 travels through the states of Florida, Georgia, North ...

(US 441), between US 74 and US 19, was named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfe, Jeremiah 1924 births 2018 deaths Eastern Band Cherokee people United States Navy personnel of World War II Articles containing video clips 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans

See also

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