Post by blackcrowheart on Sept 1, 2006 10:25:19 GMT -5
Cherokee to use translation computers
by Jon Ostendorff, jostendorff@citizen-times.com
published August 28, 2006 12:15 am
CHEROKEE — The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will use a federal grant to buy hand-held computers that translate English into Cherokee.
The computers, called Phraselators and made by Maryland-based VoxTec International, will help the tribe teach members how to speak Cherokee.
Web Extras: Multimedia & Related Content
Garfield Long Jr. speaking Cherokee. (321 KB)
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Renissa Walker, manager of the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program, said an average of three Cherokee speakers die every two months. Seventy-two percent of the fluent population is older than 50, she said.
The 13,000-member tribe in July used casino-generated Cherokee Preservation Foundation money to partner with Western Carolina University to start recruiting and training fluent speakers. They will be teachers at a planned Cherokee Language Academy.
The federal government nearly destroyed Indian languages with an assimilation program that forced people to learn English. In Cherokee and many other Indian communities, children were punished for speaking their language. The program started with the Indian Removal Act in 1830 and lasted well into the 20th century.
The Eastern Band since 2004 has operated two language immersion classrooms where children speak only Cherokee. The goal is to produce more speakers and save the language.
Garfield Long Jr., the tribe’s linguist and a translator, will be the voice on many of the Phraselators audio clips. Unlike most Eastern Band members, he grew up speaking Cherokee and had to learn English when he went to school.
The tribe is buying 10 of the machines with laptops and touch-screen machines. The touch-screens will be used in the classroom to play a recorded Cherokee speaker when a student touches the image of an object.
Tribal language workers will program the Phraselators with training from VoxTech.
The Phraselators will help the parents of the immersion students learn the language, and in turn improve the education of their children, he said.
“Hopefully the immersion room parents will benefit tremendously from this,” he said.
The $17,500 grant for the initiative is coming from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Tribal government is providing matching dollars.
Staff writer Adam Behsudi contributed to this report.
Contact Jon Ostendorff at 828-452-1467 or via e-mail at jostendo@ashevill.gannett.com.
by Jon Ostendorff, jostendorff@citizen-times.com
published August 28, 2006 12:15 am
CHEROKEE — The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will use a federal grant to buy hand-held computers that translate English into Cherokee.
The computers, called Phraselators and made by Maryland-based VoxTec International, will help the tribe teach members how to speak Cherokee.
Web Extras: Multimedia & Related Content
Garfield Long Jr. speaking Cherokee. (321 KB)
Advertisement
Renissa Walker, manager of the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program, said an average of three Cherokee speakers die every two months. Seventy-two percent of the fluent population is older than 50, she said.
The 13,000-member tribe in July used casino-generated Cherokee Preservation Foundation money to partner with Western Carolina University to start recruiting and training fluent speakers. They will be teachers at a planned Cherokee Language Academy.
The federal government nearly destroyed Indian languages with an assimilation program that forced people to learn English. In Cherokee and many other Indian communities, children were punished for speaking their language. The program started with the Indian Removal Act in 1830 and lasted well into the 20th century.
The Eastern Band since 2004 has operated two language immersion classrooms where children speak only Cherokee. The goal is to produce more speakers and save the language.
Garfield Long Jr., the tribe’s linguist and a translator, will be the voice on many of the Phraselators audio clips. Unlike most Eastern Band members, he grew up speaking Cherokee and had to learn English when he went to school.
The tribe is buying 10 of the machines with laptops and touch-screen machines. The touch-screens will be used in the classroom to play a recorded Cherokee speaker when a student touches the image of an object.
Tribal language workers will program the Phraselators with training from VoxTech.
The Phraselators will help the parents of the immersion students learn the language, and in turn improve the education of their children, he said.
“Hopefully the immersion room parents will benefit tremendously from this,” he said.
The $17,500 grant for the initiative is coming from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Tribal government is providing matching dollars.
Staff writer Adam Behsudi contributed to this report.
Contact Jon Ostendorff at 828-452-1467 or via e-mail at jostendo@ashevill.gannett.com.