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Joseph Johns holding one of his woodcarvings, a corn mask., Native American woodcarving,
Joseph Johns (b. 1930)
New Salem, Massachusetts
Collection of the artist
Photography by Maggie Holtzberg
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Joseph Johns is reputed to be one of the last practicing (if not surviving) traditional Muscogee Creek woodcarvers in the United States. He continues the wood carving tradition learned from his maternal grandfather, Tahoma, by fashioning from logs the mythical beings of Creek rituals, ceremonies, and beliefs. Johns is a Muscogean Creek and a member of the Snake clan. Though Johns has lived in Massachusetts for nearly 60 years, he was raised on an island in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp. It was there he learned traditional carving from his grandfather, Tahoma. John's Indian name, "Cayoni " -- Muscogee for bad weather -- was given to him by his grandfather. On the night he was born, a freak storm brought high winds and snow, an unusual weather pattern for southeast Georgia.
Central to Cayoni's work are eight traditional carvings used for ceremonial purposes by the Creek people of the Altamaha River and Okefenokee area of Georgia. Johns was recruited into the Navy as a 15 year old because of his exceptional marksmanship. A career Navy man and Native Veteran, Johns served in WWII, the Korean War, two tours in Vietnam, and in the Delta Force. Johns moved to Massachusetts in 1949. He was employed by Harvard University from 1967 to 1990 where he was appointed Peabody Museum Indian Artist in Residence, Emeritus. Johns received a Massachusetts Artists Fellowship in the Folk Art category in 1988.
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