In 1955 the Adawayhi Club assumed responsibility for duties of the merged Pep and Beaver Clubs, which included card tricks, selling of shakers, hats, and newly designed cushions, as well as the execution of pep rallies, decoration of the football field, and pep parades. The name Adawayhi was suggested by Professor Madeline Kneberg (Anthropology) in the contest held to select a name for the merged organizations. The Cherokee word Adawayhi signified, according to Kneberg, “the medicine man who calls to the sun for magic from the game gods to help his Indian stick ball players defeat rival teams.” Its membership was composed of one representative from each social fraternity and sorority, one male and one female representative of the Independent Students Association, and 32 members at large.
Adawayhi expanded spirit efforts to all sports. Adopted in 1956, a T with a Native American figure was its official emblem. In 1962 a diesel locomotive horn was donated by the Southern Railway to use at football and basketball games. The horn, which emulated the practice in use at UCLA, was powered by a compressed air tank.
Freshmen desiring to join the organization in the ’60s were organized into a separate entity known as the Pledge Club. This assemblage was known during football season as the 12th Man Club and as Dipped in Orange during the basketball season. Adawayhi was, for a time, in charge of selecting cheerleaders, and the organization presented the Spirit of the Hill contest annually from 1962 to 1966, when Adawayhi died from apathy. (Sigma Nu and Sigma Kappa were the final two winners.) The last year of regular card tricks at the stadium was 1963, but card tricks were used in the 1967 homecoming game against Georgia Tech and at the 1974 Alabama game, during a brief revival of Adawayhi.
See also Beaver Club; Cherokee Tribe; Orange Nation; Pep Club; VASF Collegiate Club.