For this Cherokee-American Walmart associate, sharing his culture — and his name — has offered opportunities for belonging.
When Amagasga Good played his Native American flute on stage at the 2024 Walmart Associates Week, it was one more way to celebrate his heritage alongside fellow associates.
An academy trainer at Neighborhood Market 7342 in Madison, Alabama, Amagasga has been with Walmart for 17 years. And over those years, he has found many ways to share his Cherokee culture. But Amagasga began using his Cherokee name at Walmart almost by accident.
Speaking the language
Amagasga was born into a family of migrants from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and he considers himself Tsalagi-Amayetli (Cherokee-American).
“There were aspects of Cherokee culture that I was exposed to as a child,” Amagasga explains, “but I didn't hear much of the language. As far as I know, my family didn't have the language to name me with.” And, he shares, if someone did have a Native name, it was often hidden from the public due to widespread prejudice.
For Amagasga, learning Cherokee has helped him feel connected to his heritage. He’s been studying with the Cherokee Nation’s language department for several years. A typical work email from Amagasga opens with “Osiyo” (hello) and closes with “Wado,” (thank you).
Last year he decided he wanted to offer his kids Native names. He asked an elder to help him, and the elder suggested one for him as well: Amagasga, meaning rainwater. Before then, he went by his English name, Robert.
Sharing a name and a culture
“I didn't actually mean for my Cherokee name to be everywhere,” he admits. He planned to share it with friends and family. Then one day, Amagasga was updating his Workplace profile with his certifications. “I noticed there was a field for your preferred name, so I put my Cherokee name in there.”
Amagasga didn’t think much of this addition, but it triggered changes almost everywhere in the Walmart system, including the Workplace chat and the scheduling system.
“I just decided to roll with it,” Amagasga says with a smile. And his fellow associates didn’t miss a beat. Most started calling him “Goss” (pronounced like “gos” in gosling).
He’s glad he rolled with it: Becoming Goss at work has helped him feel more connected to his background and true to himself while he’s at work.
Celebrating Native heritage
Amagasga has always found ways to celebrate Native culture at work. A few years ago, he shared a list of native recording artists for Walmart & Sam’s Club Radio to feature during Native American Heritage Month. (Today, you can hear artists like Eagle & Hawk, Raye Zaragoza, Halluci Nation and Digging Roots on Walmart radio throughout the year!)
Then, he explains, “I got into playing the Native flute as way of exploring musical traditions from my culture, but I found that I really enjoyed playing.” He considers music to be healing.
The 2024 Walmart Associate Talent Search is perhaps the most high-profile way Amagasga has shared his Cherokee culture. One of more than 300 associates to enter, he was among just 11 chosen to perform. Watch his entry here.
Amagasga says the talent show coaches did a great job coming up with creative ways to meld the show’s diverse talents into a seamless performance. And it marked the first time he had played the Native flute in public — and it was thrilling! “It's definitely not something I'll forget anytime soon.”
He gave his local Walmart community an encore the month after Associates Week when he played at his store to raise money for our Children’s Miracle Network Hospital fundraising campaign. Just a few hours after playing, he had raised hundreds of dollars for the cause that benefits children facing serious illness — yet again proving that sharing his culture is good for everyone.
