History of the Cherokee language

In 2019, the Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes declared a state of emergency for the language due to the threat of it going extinct, calling for the enhancement of revitalization programs.

The Iroquois based in New York have historically called the Cherokee Oyata’ge’ronoñ, which means "inhabitants of the cave country".

[3] Another theory is that "Cherokee" derives from a Lower Creek word, Cvlakke ("chuh-log-gee"), meaning someone who speaks another language.

The North American origins and eventual English language form of "Cherokee" were researched by James Mooney in the nineteenth century.

Researchers in the 19th century recorded conversations with elders who recounted an oral tradition of the Cherokee people's migrating south from the Great Lakes region in ancient times.

Warfare was considered a polluting activity, which required the purification of the priestly class before participants could reintegrate into normal village life.

The reasons for the change have been debated, with the origin of the decline often located with a revolt by the Cherokee against the abuses of the priestly class known as the Ani-kutani( "Aní-" is a prefix referring to a group of individuals, while the meaning of "kutáni" is unknown).

[9] By the time of Mooney, the structure of Cherokee religious practitioners was more informal, based more on individual knowledge and ability than upon heredity.

Unlike most other Indians in the American southeast at the start of the historic era, the Cherokee spoke an Iroquoian language.

Linguistic analysis shows a relatively large difference between Cherokee and the northern Iroquoian languages, suggesting a split in the distant past.

In the 1730s the population halved due to commercial trade with England that resulted in the spread of diseases such as smallpox to which the indigenous peoples had no immunity.

He spent a year on this effort, leaving his fields unplanted, so that his friends and neighbors thought he had lost his mind.

When he tried to convince the local leaders of the syllabary's usefulness, they doubted him, believing that the symbols were merely ad hoc reminders.

[19] When Sequoyah returned east, he brought a sealed envelope containing a written speech from one of the Arkansas Cherokee leaders.

[21] In 1824, the General Council of the Eastern Cherokee awarded Sequoyah a large silver medal in honor of the syllabary.

[20] By 1825, the Bible and numerous religious hymns and pamphlets, educational materials, legal documents and books were translated into the Cherokee language.

Early the following year, the hand press and syllabary characters in type were shipped by water from Boston and transported overland the last two hundred miles by wagon to the capital of the Cherokee Nation, New Echota.

[28] Transcriptions of the English-language portions of the 19th-century newspaper can be found at Western Carolina University's Hunter Library's Web site.

[33] The first actual printing of a Bible portion in Cherokee appeared in the Missionary Herald of December 1827, and consisted of the first verse of Genesis, translated by Samuel Worcester.

Samuel Worcester, and Elias Boudinot, editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, published a revised translation of Matthew in 1829.

Worcester, together with Stephen Foreman, published John 1–3 in 1840, 1 and 2 Timothy in 1844, James in 1847, 1 and 2 Peter in 1848, Luke in 1850, Exodus in 1853, Genesis in 1856, Mark in 1857, and Romans through Ephesians in 1858.

In the meantime, Evan and John B. Jones had published Mark 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Titus, Jude, and Philemon in 1847, and Galatians through Colossians, 1 and 2 Peter in 1848 and Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Hebrews and Revelation in 1849.

In the Cherokee language, the event is called Nu na da ul tsun yi (the place where they cried); another term is Tlo va sa (our removal).

[40] The Cherokee language was later utilized to transmit secret messages in the 32nd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in Normandy, Europe during World War II.

[41] Such schools discouraged and even prohibited use of Native American languages and taught students that a tribal identity was inferior.

[41] If they were caught "speaking Indian" they were punished,[41] sometimes severely beaten with a leather belt [41] and sometimes soap was put into their mouths, in an attempt to "wash the language out.

For years, many people wrote transliterated Cherokee on the internet or used poorly compatible fonts to type out the syllabary.

[47] Cherokee Nation members Joseph L. Erb, Roy Boney, Jr., and Thomas Jeff Edwards worked with Apple to bring official Cherokee language support to the iPhone and iPod Touch in iOS 4.1[47][48] (released September 8, 2010) and for the iPad with iOS 4.2.1, which was released on November 22, 2010.

In the Claremore area, the show airs on the Rogers State University radio station, KRSC – 91.3 FM, Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., and Sundays from 12 p.m. until 1 p.m.

The show also airs on Siloam Springs, AR, station KUOA – 1290 AM, on Sundays from 9 a.m. until 10 a.m.[61] In 2019, the Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes declared a state of emergency for the language due to the threat of it going extinct, calling for the enhancement of revitalization programs.