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.
Awardees have included Native American basket weavers, African American blues musicians, traditional fiddlers, Mexican American accordionists, and all manner of traditional artisans and performers of numerous ethnic backgrounds.
National Heritage Fellowship winners include:
Dewey Balfa, Cajun fiddler
Joe Heaney, Irish Sean Nós singer
Tommy Jarrell, Appalachian fiddler
Bessie Jones, singer, member of the Georgia Sea Island Singers
George López, Santos woodcarver
Brownie McGhee, blues guitarist
Hugh McGraw, shape note singer
Lydia Mendoza, Mexican American singer
Bill Monroe, bluegrass musician
Elijah Pierce, carver and painter
Adam Popovich, Tamburitza musician
Georgeann Robinson, Osage ribbonworker
Duff Severe, saddlemaker
Philip Simmons, ornamental ironworker and blacksmith
Sanders "Sonny" Terry, blues musician
Sister Mildred Barker, Shaker singer
Rafael Cepeda, bomba dancer and musician
Ray Hicks, Appalachian storyteller
Stanley Hicks, Appalachian musician and storyteller
John Lee Hooker, blues guitarist and singer
Mike Manteo, Sicilian marionettist (Marionette maker)
Narciso Martínez, accordionist and composer
Lanier Meaders, potter from Georgia
Almeda Riddle, ballad singer
Simon St. Pierre, French American fiddler from Maine
Joe Shannon (piper), Irish piper
Alex Stewart, copper and woodworker
Ada Thomas, Chitimacha basketmaker
Lucinda Toomer, African American quilter
Lem Ward, duck decoy maker and painter
Dewey Williams, shape note singer
Clifton Chenier
Bertha Cook
Joseph Cormier
Elizabeth Cotten
Burlon Craig
Albert Fahlbusch
Janie Hunter
Mary Jane Manigault
Genevieve Mougin
Martin Mulvihill
Howard "Sandman" Sims
Ralph Stanley
Margaret Tafoya
Dave Tarras, klezmer clarinetist
Paul Tiulana
Cleofes Vigil
Emily Kau'i Zuttermeister
Eppie Archuleta
Alice New Holy Blue Legs
Periklis Halkias
Jimmy Jausoro
Meali'i Kalama
Lily May Ledford
Leif Melgaard
Bua Xou Mua, Hmong musician
Julio Negrón-Rivera
Glenn Ohrlin
Henry Townsend
Horace "Spoons" Williams
Helen Cordero, potter
Louis Bashell, polka musician
Wade Mainer, bluegrass banjoist
Whistlin' Alex Moore, blues pianist
Albert "Sunnyland Slim" Luandrew, blues pianist.
Michael Flatley, Irish American step dancer
Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings, Kiowa regalia maker
LaVaughn Robinson, tap dancer and choreographer
Earl Scruggs, banjo player
Chesley Goseyun Wilson, Apache fiddle maker
Nati Cano, Mariachi musician, leader of Mariachi los Camperos
Kevin Locke, Lakota Flute Player/Singer/Dancer/Storyteller Mobridge, SD
Wally McRae, Cowboy Poet Colstrip Montana
Em Bun, Cambodian Silk Weaver Harrisburg, PA
Armstrong, Howard, African-American string band musician, visual artist
Jack Coen Irish-American Flautist
Irvan Perez, Isleño décima singer and woodcarver
Melvin Wine, Appalachian fiddler
Fatima Kuinova, Bukharan Jewish singer "Merited Artist of the Soviet Union"
Jerry Brown, stoneware potter
T. Viswanathan, South Indian flutist and vocalist
Walker Calhoun, Cherokee musician, dancer, and teacher
Elder Roma Wilson, gospel blues harmonica player
Liz Carroll Irish American fiddler
Vi Hilbert
Simon Shaheen
Donny Golden - Irish American step dancer
Wayne Henderson- musician, luthier
Edward Babb, shout band leader
Charles Brown, blues pianist, singer and composer
Gladys Clark, Cajun spinner and weaver
Georgia Harris, Catawba poet
Hua Wenyi, Chinese Kunqu opera singer
Ali Akbar Khan, North Indian classical sarod player
Ramón José López, santero and metalsmith
Jim & Jesse McReynolds, bluegrass musicians and brothers
Phong Nguyen (Nguyễn Thuyết Phong), Vietnamese musician and ethnomusicologist
Hystercine Rankin, African American quilter
Francis Whitaker, blacksmith and ornamental ironworker
Apsara Ensemble, Cambodian traditional dancers and musicians
Eddie Blazonczyk, Polish American musician and bandleader
Dale Calhoun, boat builder
Bruce Caesar, Sac and Fox-Pawnee, German silversmith
Antonio De La Rosa, Tejano conjunto accordionist
Epstein Brothers, Jewish Klezmer musicians
Sophia George, Yakama - Colville beadworker
Nadjeschda Overgaard, Danish American hardanger embroidery needleworker
Harilaos Papapostolou, Greek Byzantine chanter
Claude "Fiddler" Williams, jazz and swing fiddler
Pops Staples, gospel and blues musician
Frisner Augustin, Haitian drummer
Lila Greengrass Blackdeer, Ho-Chunk Black Ash basketmaker and needleworker
Shirley Caesar, gospel singer
Alfredo Campos, horse hair hitcher
Mary Louise Defender Wilson, Dakotah-Hidatsa traditionalist and storyteller
Jimmy "Slyde" Godbolt, tapdancer
Ulysses Goode, Western Mono basketmaker
Bob Holt, Ozark fiddler
Zakir Hussain, tabla player
Elliott "Ellie" Mannette, steel pan builder, tuner and player
Mick Moloney, Irish musician
Eudokia Sorochaniuk, Ukrainian American weaver and textile artist
Ralph W. Stanley, boatbuilder
Bounxou Chanthraphone, Laotian American weaver
The Dixie Hummingbirds, African American Gospel Quartet
José González, hammock weaver
Nettie Jackson, Klickitat basketmaker
Santiago Jiménez, Jr., Tejano Accordionist
Genoa Keawe, Native Hawaiian singer and ukulele player
Frankie Manning, lindy hop dancer and choreographer
Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, blues piano player
Konstantinos Pilarinos, Orthodox Byzantine icon woodcarver
Chris Strachwitz, record producer and label founder
Dorothy Thompson, weaver
Felipe García Villamil, Afro-Cuban drummer and santero
Don Walser, Western singer and guitarist
Wilson "Boozoo" Chavis, Creole zydeco accordionist
Celestino Avilés, santero
Mozell Benson, quilter
Hazel Dickens, Appalachian singer and songwriter
João Oliveira dos Santos (Mestre João Grande), Capoeira Angola master
Evalena Henry, Apache basketweaver
Peter Kyvelos, oud maker
Eddie Pennington, thumbpicking-style guitarist
Qi Shu Fang, Beijing Opera performer
Seiichi Tanaka, Taiko drummer and dojo founder
Dorothy Trumpold, rug weaver
Fred Tsoodle, Kiowa sacred song leader
Joseph Wilson, folklorist
Ralph Blizard, fiddler
Loren Bommelyn, Tolowa tradition bearer
Kevin Burke, Irish American fidler
Rose Cree and Francis Cree, Ojibwe basketmakers and storytellers
Nadim Dlaikan, nye (reed flute) player
Luderin Darbone and Edwin Duhon, Cajun fiddler and accordionist
David "Honeyboy" Edwards, blues guitarist and singer
Flory Jagoda, Jewish-American singer, songwriter, and guitarist
Clara Neptune Keezer, Passamaquoddy basketmaker
Bob McQuillen, Contra dance musician and composer
Domingo Saldivar, Conjunto accordionist
Losang Samten, Tibetan monk and creator of sandpaintings
Jean Ritchie, Appalachian musician and songwriter
Rosa Elena Egipciaco, mundillo maker (Puerto Rican Bobbin Lace)
Agnes "Oshanee" Kenmille, Salish beadworker and regalia maker
Norman Kennedy, Scottish weaver, singer, storyteller
Roberto Martinez and Lorenzo Martinez, father and son musicians
Norma Miller, African American Swing Dancer/Choreographer
Ron Poast, Hardanger fiddle maker
Felipe I. Ruak and Joseph K. Ruak, father and son Carolinian stick dancers
Manoochehr Sadeghi, santur player
Jesus Arriada, Johnny Curutchet, Martin Goicoechea and Jesus Goni, Basque (Bertsolari) poets
Anjani Ambegaokar, Kathak dancer
Charles "Chuck" T. Campbell, Gospel steel guitarist
Joe Derrane, Irish-American button accordionist
Jerry Douglas, Dobro player
Gerald "Subiyay" Miller, Skokomish tradition bearer, carver, basket maker
Chum Ngek, Cambodian musician and teacher
Milan Opacich, Tamburitza instrument maker
Eliseo Rodriguez and Paula Rodriguez, husband and wife straw appliqué artists
Koko Taylor, blues musician
Yuqin Wang and Zhengli Xu, Chinese rod puppeteers
Eldrid Skjold Arntzen, Norwegian-American rosemaler
Earl Barthé, Creole building artisan
Chuck Brown, African American musical innovator
Janette Carter, country musician
Michael Doucet, Cajun fiddler, composer, band leader
Big Joe Duskin, blues and boogie-woogie pianist
Jerry Grcevich, Tamburitza musician, prim player
Wanda Jackson, country, rockabilly and gospel singer
Grace Henderson Nez, Navajo weaver
Herminia Albarrán Romero, paper cutting artist
Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, Yiddish singer, songwriter, and poet
Albertina Walker, gospel singer,"Queen of Gospel Music"
James Ka'upena Wong, Hawaiian chanter
Charles M. Carrillo, santero
Delores Elizabeth Churchill, Haida cedar bark weaver
Henry Gray, blues piano player and singer
Doyle Lawson, Gospel and bluegrass singer, bandleader
Esther Martinez, Tewa linguist and storyteller
Diomedes Matos, master string instrument maker
George Na'ope, hula master
Wilho Saari, Finnish kantele player
Mavis Staples, Gospel, rhythm and blues singer
Nancy Sweezy, folklorist and potter
Treme Brass Band, New Orleans based brass band
Nicholas Benson, stone letter cutter and calligrapher
Sidiki Conde, Guinean dancer and musician
Violet Kazue de Cristoforo, Haiku poet and historian
Roland Freeman, photo documentarian, author, and exhibit Curator
Pat Courtney Gold, Wasco sally bag weaver
Eddie Kamae, Hawaiian musician
Agustin Lira, Chicano singer and musician,
Julia Parker, Kashia Pomo basketmaker
Mary Jane Queen, Appalachian musician
Joe Thompson, string band musician
Irvin Trujillo, Rio Grande weaver
Elaine Hoffman Watts, Klezmer musician
Horace Axtell, Nez Perce drum maker, singer, tradition-bearer
Dale Harwood, saddlemaker
Bettye Kimbrell, quilter
Jeronimo E. Lozano, Peruvian retablo 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 White, traditional jazz musician and bandleader
Mac Wiseman, Bluegrass musician
Walter Murray Chiesa, traditional arts specialist and advocate
Birmingham Sunlights, five-man, four-part harmony a cappella gospel group
Edwin Colón Zayas, Puerto Rican cuatro
Chitresh Das, Kathak dancer and choreographer
LeRoy Graber, German-Russian willow basketmaker from South Dakota
"Queen" Ida Guillory, Zydeco musician and singer
Dudley Laufman, Contra and barn dance caller and musician
Amma D. McKen, Yoruba Orisha singer
Joel Nelson, Cowboy poet
Teri Rofkar, Tlingit weaver and basketmaker
Mike Seeger, folk musician, cultural scholar
Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, Cambodian classical dancer and choreographer
Yacub Addy, Ghanaian drum master, preserves music of the Ga people
Jim "Texas Shorty" Chancellor, Texas fiddler
Gladys Kukana Grace, Lauhala (palm leaf) weaver
Mary Jackson, Gullah sweetgrass basketweaver
Delano Floyd "Del" McCoury, Bluegrass guitarist and singer
Judith McCulloh, Folklorist and editor
Kamala Lakshmi Narayanan, Bharatanatyam Indian dancer
Mike Rafferty, Irish flute player
Ezequiel Torres, Afro-Cuban drummer and drum-builder
Laverne Brackens, Quilter
Carlinhos Pandeiro de Ouro, Frame drum player and percussionist
Bo Dollis, Mardi Gras Indian Chief
Jim Griffith, folklorist
Roy and PJ Hirabayashi, Taiko drum leaders
Ledward Kaapana, Ukulele and slack key guitarist
Frank Newsome, Old Regular Baptist singer
Warner Williams, Piedmont blues songster
Yuri Yunakov, Bulgarian saxophonist
Mike Auldridge
Paul & Darlene Bergren
Harold A. Burnham
Albert B. Head
Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez
Lynne Yoshiko Nakasone
Molly Neptune Parker
The Paschall Brothers
Andy Statman
Sheila Kay Adams, Storyteller and musician
Ralph Burns, Pyramid Lake Paiute storyteller
Verónica Castillo, Ceramicist and clay Sculptor
Séamus Connolly, Irish fiddler and scholar
Nicolae Feraru, Cimbalom player
Carol Fran, Swamp blues singer and pianist (both French Creole and English singer)
Pauline Hillaire, Lummi artist, teacher, and storyteller
David Ivey, Sacred Harp singer
Ramón "Chunky" Sánchez, Chicano musician
Henry Arquette, Mohawk basketmaker
Manuel "Cowboy" Donley, Tejano musician and singer
Kevin Doyle, Irish step dancer
The Holmes Brothers, blues, gospel, and R&B band
Yvonne Walker Keshick, Odawa quill worker
Carolyn Mazloomi, quilting community advocate
Vera Nakonechny, Ukrainian embroiderer and bead worker
Singing & Praying Bands of Maryland and Delaware, African-American religious singers
Rufus White, Omaha traditional singer and drum group leader
Rahim AlHaj, oud player & composer
Michael Alpert, Yiddish musician and tradition bearer
Mary Lee Bendolph, Lucy Mingo, and Loretta Pettway — quilters of Gee's Bend
Dolly Jacobs, circus aerialist
Yary Livan, Cambodian ceramicist
Daniel Sheehy, ethnomusicologist/folklorist
Drink Small, blues artist
Gertrude Yukie Tsutsumi, Japanese classical dancer
Sidonka Wadina, Slovak straw artist/egg decorator
Bryan Akipa, Dakota flute maker and player
Monk Boudreaux, Mardi Gras Indian craftsman and musician
Billy McComiskey, Irish button accordionist
Artemio Posadas, Master Huastecan son musician and advocate
Clarissa Rizal, Tlingit ceremonial regalia maker
Theresa Secord, Penobscot Nation ash/sweetgrass basketmaker
Bounxeung Synanonh, Laotian khaen player
Michael Vlahovich, master shipwright
Leona Waddell, white oak basketmaker
