Walkingstick graduated from Northwestern State School of Nursing in Louisiana in 1961.[4][5] Returning to North Carolina, she became the director of community health nursing for the EBCI reservation,[6] and established the first clinic for the Native American population in Robbinsville, N.C.[4] Walkingstick also instigated and ran the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat clinics at the Cherokee Indian Hospital in Cherokee.[4]
Ernestine Walkingstick in the Northwestern State University yearbook, 1959
Walkingstick was a member of the North Carolina District Nurses Association and the American Nurses Association.[7] She was part of the Health Advisory Committee for the Head Start program, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Tribal Health Board, a board member of the Tribal Grand Council Committee, and president of the Native American Indian Women's Association.[7] She was also the American Red Cross Chapter coordinator of the local blood drive, and chairman of the Cherokee Center for Family Services.[7] Walkingstick was the "founding mother" of Swain/Qualla Safe, Inc., a domestic violence service.[7][8] Part of its original task force, she served on its board of directors for five years.[7]
Walkingstick retired after 35 years as a registered nurse in Swain County.[7]
Death and legacy
Ernestine Walkingstick died on 11 July 1999 at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina.[1] The Ernestine Walkingstick Domestic Violence Shelter was established on 3 June 2002, named in her honor.[9]
