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2023-11-27 -Obits-
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Chief Noc-a-Homa, dead at 81
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[WSOCtv] Levi Walker Jr., who camped in a tepee in the left-field stands at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium as Braves mascot Chief Noc-a-Homa for nearly two decades, died Friday, his family said. He was 81.
Walker’s family announced his death in a Facebook post. No cause of death was announced, but according to a GoFundMe page created in July 2022, by his daughter, Gwen Newman, Walker had been diagnosed with metabolic encephalopathy, a disease of the brain. He also had diabetes and had been on dialysis for nearly a decade, his daughter said.
"The man, the legend and great warrior of my life has crossed over to paradise with full restored health," the Facebook post read. "He is dancing in the sky and free of pain."
Walker was the third person to portray the Braves mascot after the franchise relocated to Atlanta from Milwaukee after the 1965 season. He held the position from 1969 through 1986, and his pregame ritual of going to the pitcher’s mound and praying for a victory.
From his tepee in the left-center field stands, Noc-a-Homa would celebrate a Braves home run with fireworks and smoke bombs, according to newspaper archives.
Walker was the first Native American to portray the Braves mascot after taking over the position in 1969. According to a 1969 news report, he traced his ancestry from the Odawa and Chippewa tribes.
The first mascot, Larry Hunn, of Chamblee, Georgia, served from June 1966 to October 1968. The second person to play the role was Tim Minors in 1968.
Walker, an insurance salesman, plumber and warehouse worker, approached the Braves in 1968 about having a genuine Native American portray the Braves’ mascot, Deadline reported.
Apologies if previously posted. He was a fixture of my youth, sometimes the only entertainment in old Atlanta Fulton County Stadium 
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Posted by Beavis 2023-11-27 00:00||
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