Rickey Butch WalkerRickey Butch Walker is a life-long native son of the Warrior Mountains. He descends from Cherokee, Creek, and Celtic (Scots Irish) people who migrated into the hills and coves of the mountainous region of north Alabama some 250 years ago. He, as was is father, is a member of the Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama. His Indian name is Fish Bird in honor of his fifth, fourth, and third great grandmothers-Catherine Kingfisher, Experience Fish, and Elizabeth Bird. The kingfisher and fish bird (osprey) love to fish and so does Butch. In addition, the osprey is of contrasting colors of black and white which identify Butch's character. Things that rule his life are true or false, yes or no, and black and white with virtually no gray areas; therefore, he lives his life somewhat as an open book. Also, according to Indian legend, the birds of prey soar high in the sky and carry the prayers of the earthly creatures to the great spirit. Fish Bird (Butch) has his entire adult life been an advocate to preserve and protect the environment for all the earthly creatures that are unable to speak for themselves. As a young boy, Butch was born and raised in the shadows of the Warrior Mountains where he was taught by his grandpa the old ways and the ways of the wild before starting school. He squirrel hunted on Brushy Mountain, trapped in Sugar Camp Hollow, searched for ginseng in Indian Tomb Hollow, and fished in the West Fork of Flint Creek. He walked with his grandparents on old Indian trails including Black Warrior's Path, Sipsie Trail, High Town Path, and many others. He explored the deep canyons, rolling hills, steep bluff lines, and vast hollows containing beautiful waterfalls where he would stand in the spray to cool off on a hot day. He was nourished by the subsistence of West Flint Creek and surrounding hardwood bottoms, and molded from traveling the trails and paths his people once trod. He grew up with a fierce love for the Warrior Mountains in which his ancestors lived, died, and are buried. In 1966, because of the love of his mountainous homeland, Butch became an advocate to stop clear cutting of old growth woodlands that he roamed and hunted as a youngster. He worked to help establish the Sipsey Wilderness Area which was dedicated in 1975 and wrote weekly articles about the forest for the Moulton Advertiser. On June 2, 1972, Butch graduated from the University of North Alabama and four days later, he was drafted into the United States Army. Since he was already accepted in a graduate program at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee, his major professor got Butch assigned to the Tennessee Army National Guard. Butch was assigned as a member of the 2nd Platoon, Company A, 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade at Fort Jackson, South Carolina where he completed basic and advanced training on December 21, 1972; he was accepted into the Tennessee Military Academy and received a commission as a second lieutenant. In 1976, Rickey Butch Walker got a job with the Lawrence County Board of Education and taught high school science for 11 years, and served as Director of Lawrence County Schools' Indian Education Program and the Oakville Indian Mounds Education Center until his retirement in 2009. Butch retired after some 35 years with the Lawrence County Board of Education during which he earned post graduate degrees in science, education, and supervision. In 1992, Butch teamed up with Lamar Marshall and helped begin the Bankhead Monitor to fight the clear cutting and destructive practices by the United States Forest Service taking place in the sacred Indian Tomb Hollow. The Monitor became Wild Alabama and later Wild South; Butch served as Chairman of the Board of Directors until Wild South merged with the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project in 2006. Read More Read Less