- Details
- By Levi Rickert
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — In the largest language investment in Cherokee Nation history, the Council of the Cherokee Nation approved legislation introduced by Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Warner to provide a $16 million investment in 2019 to construct the Durbin Feeling Language Center.
On Wednesday, ground was broken for the new 50,000-square-foot facility that will house all of the tribe’s language programs under one roof for the first time.
The new language center is named in honor of the late Durbin Feeling, Cherokee Nation’s single-largest contributor to the Cherokee language since Sequoyah.
“Our language and our culture are our link to the past; they are what binds us together today, and the key to remaining a distinct people tomorrow,” Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “Our culture and by extension, our language, has been tested ever since European contact: war, disease, broken treaties, our forced removal, the suppression of our government, the influence of the so-called ‘civilized’ society around us has all put our culture and our language to the test. We are a strong people, but our lifeways and our language have all been eroded by all of these pressures over the centuries.”
The Durbin Feeling Language Center will house the Cherokee Immersion Charter School, the Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program, and the Cherokee Nation translation team, along with other programs and services offered through the tribe’s language efforts.
Along with the new Durbin Feeling Language Center, the Cherokee Nation is also building five new efficiency style homes for Cherokee speakers, helping to connect them to younger Cherokee language learners at the nearby language center. The nearby speakers village is named in honor of the late Bonnie Kirk, a beloved Cherokee speaker and Cherokee Immersion School teacher who understood the importance of teaching younger generations to speak the Cherokee language and use it in their daily lives.
It is estimated that there are only about 2,000 fluent Cherokee speakers in the Cherokee Nation.
Construction is expected to be complete in 12 to 18 months.
More Stories Like This
Lawsuit Filed by Fort Belknap Indian Community Against Greenberg Traurig, LLP Reads Like a Movie ScriptSpecial Edition Native Bidaské: Oglala Composer Mato Wayuhi
Ho-Chunk Trucker Spreads MMIP Message, Offers Safe Haven from Domestic Violence
Native News Weekly (September 24, 2023): D.C. Briefs
Assemblyman Ramos Honored with Award for Long Service to California Native American Commission
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.
