All Things Cherokee: Article - The Future of Our Cherokee Language

It is estimated that approximately 20,000 people speak Cherokee fluently as a native language; however, it is used mostly as a second language. Given the small number of people who fluently speak Cherokee, I think it is pretty safe to say that few Cherokee children grow up in homes where Cherokee is predominantly spoken. I propose that of the 20,000 who speak Cherokee, at least ninety-five percent of them are adults. What will happen when these adults have passed on? Will the Cherokee language disappear altogether as some of the dialects of Cherokee have disappeared? Who will teach the children?

As a child, I listened to my father speak a few words of German on a daily basis. I know these words as well as I know English. They are as natural to me as blinking my eyelids or breathing. I didn't even have to read a book to learn them. Later, I started reading about Spot and his running. I don't remember reading about where Spot was running or why. I guess dogs just like to run. I remember phonics. They don't use phonics as a teaching tool much anymore. I guess that's why I can spell just about any word you throw at me while my children have difficulty spelling "Spot." I spent twelve years learning how to read, write and pronounce the English language. Then I spent several years in college learning some more. I guess it's obvious I could still use some more years learning how to write it. I took a night class several years ago. It took a lot longer to remember the information when I was studying for a test then than it did when I was in high school. Nowadays, I'm lucky if I can remember to call my children by their name instead of my brother's name.

My point is children have an incredible capacity to learn. I remember reading the statistics somewhere about the retention ratios of children versus that of adults. The numbers were astonishing. We should teach our children the Cherokee language when they are young. We should speak the language in our homes. We should speak the language by our campfires. We should speak the language outside of the arbors. To those who don't know the language, but want to speak it, we should help them learn. If we don't speak the language regularly and frequently, who will teach the children?

As a student of the Cherokee language, I find myself fascinated by its rising and falling musical rhythms, hesitant to speak the phrase until I have actually heard the words spoken by my friends. But I still stumble through it, even it it's not right, and I speak it to my teenage daughter until she learns it and understands what it means. Together, we are learning the language of our people.

The U.S. Government's campaign to assimilate the Cherokee into the white man's world essentially eradicated the Cherokee's use of the language as a primary at-home language. It seems to me that if enough of our people begin to speak our language, sooner or later the voting ballots will be printed in English and in Cherokee. Then those hanging chads may be a problem in Indian Territory.