Cherokee

Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩ) is a Southern Iroquoian language spoken mainly in North Carolina (Tetsas / ᏖᏣᏍ) and Oklahoma (Asgaya gigageyi / ᎠᏍᎦᏯ ᎩᎦᎨᏱ) and Arkansas (Geiyi / ᎨᎢᏱ) in the USA. Between 1,500 and 2,100 people speak Cherokee, and the majority are over 40 years old. Few children are growing up with the language [source].

According to the 2018 Cherokee Nation Tribal Survey there are 1,200 speakers of Cherokee in the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, 217 speakers in the Eastern Band of Cherokees in North Carolina, and 101 speakers in the United Keetoowah Band of Oklahoma and Arkansas.

There are two main dialects of Cherokee. The Eastern dialect is spoken in the Qualla Boundary or The Qualla, an area of western North Carolina purchashed by the Cherokee tribe in the 1870s. It is also known Middle or Kituwa (ᎩᏚᏩ) dialect. The Western dialect is spoken in eastern Oklahoma and North Carolina. It is also known as the Overhill or Otali dialect. Until about 1900, the Southern or Lower dialect of Cherokee was also spoken in South Carolina and Georgia.

Cherokee is well documented, with more literature than any other Native American language. There are Cherokee dictionaries and grammars, translations of parts of the Bible, and a Cherokee newspaper.

The Cherokee Nation has a plan, instigated in 2008, to increase the number of fluent speakers through immersion programs in schools, and encouraging people to speak Cherokee at home. In 50 years their goal is for 80% or more of the Cherokee people to speak their language fluently. Parents are taught the language along with their children, and it is possible to study Cherokee at a number of universities in Oklahoma and North Carolina.