Cherokee language revitalization
Cherokee or Tsalagi (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, Tsalagi Gawonihisdi [dʒalaˈɡî ɡawónihisˈdî]) is an endangered Iroquoian language and the native language of the Cherokee people.[1]
Cherokee has been the co-official language of the Cherokee Nation alongside English since 1991. Cherokee is also recognized as the official language of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.[2] The dialect of Cherokee in Oklahoma is "definitely endangered", and the one in North Carolina is "severely endangered" according to UNESCO.[3]
Revitalization efforts[edit | edit source]
In 2001 a Cherokee language immersion school was founded in Tahlequah, Oklahoma that educates students from pre-school through eighth grade. A second campus, where students spend the day in an immersion school and then return to a Cherokee-speaking home, was added in November 2021.
In 2006 the Kituwah Preservation & Education Program (KPEP) was started, with a focus on language immersion programs for children from birth to fifth grade, developing cultural resources for the general public and community language programs to foster the Cherokee language among adults.[4]
In 2008 the Cherokee Nation instigated a ten-year language preservation plan that involved growing new fluent speakers of the Cherokee language from childhood on up through school immersion programs, as well as a collaborative community effort to continue to use the language at home.[5]
The Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes to declare a state of emergency in June 2019, with a call to enhance revitalization efforts.[6]
In February 2022, Motorola introduced a Cherokee language interface for its latest smartphone. Eastern Band Principal Chief Richard Sneed worked with Motorola on the development along with other Cherokee leaders.[7]
In November of 2022, the tribe opened a $20 million language center in a 52,000-square-foot building near its headquarters in Tahlequah. The immersion facility, which has classes from youngsters to adults, features no English signage.[8]
Several universities offer Cherokee as a second language, including the University of Oklahoma, Northeastern State University, and Western Carolina University. Western Carolina University (WCU) has partnered with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) to promote and restore the language through the school's Cherokee Studies program, which offers classes in and about Cherokee language and culture. WCU and the EBCI have initiated a ten-year language revitalization plan consisting of: (1) a continuation of the improvement and expansion of the EBCI Atse Kituwah Cherokee Language Immersion School, (2) continued development of Cherokee language learning resources, and (3) building of Western Carolina University programs to offer a more comprehensive language training curriculum.[9]
- ↑ "Cherokee: A Language of the United States". Ethnologue. SIL International. 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
- ↑ Cushman, Ellen (September 13, 2012). The Cherokee Syllabary: Writing the People's Perseverance. Chapter 8 – Peoplehood and Perseverance: The Cherokee Language, 1980–2010: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 189–191. ISBN 9780806185484.
- ↑ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. 2010
- ↑ Kituwah Preservation & Education Program Powerpoint, by Renissa Walker (2012)'. 2012. Print.
- ↑ "Native Now : Language: Cherokee". We Shall Remain – American Experience – PBS. 2008
- ↑ McKie, Scott (June 27, 2019). "Tri-Council declares State of Emergency for Cherokee language". Cherokee One Feather.
- ↑ O'Brien, Matt (February 28, 2022). "Cherokee on a smartphone: Part of a drive to save a language". Hickory Daily Record.
- ↑ "Cherokee Nation opens $20 million immersion facility where English becomes a foreign language". Michael Overall, Tulsa World, November 15, 2022
- ↑ "Cherokee Language Revitalization Project". Western Carolina University. 2014
