10th anniversary of Kituwah Preservation and Education Program

From a press release:

10th anniversary of Kituwah Preservation and Education Program

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians marked the 10th anniversary of the tribe’s successful indian language initiative, the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program (KPEP), on April 17, 2014.

Funded by a $3 million grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, the KPEP is multi-faceted effort to revitalize the Cherokee language.

The teaching program began in 2004 with a single classroom. In 2009, the Eastern Band opened the Kituwah Academy, a 42,000 square foot facility with ten classrooms where children from infancy through the forth grade receive instruction in their native language.

Referred to as a “total immersion” approach, the program teaches Cherokee as a first language to children beginning as young as six months. All classes and all conversation is conducted in Cherokee. Participating children and their parents learn to speak and read together.

“The immersion school stands as the tribe’s best hope for keeping the language alive,” said Michell Hicks, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band. “Not only are we teaching our language to our children, but native language experts associated with the Kituwah program are translating dozens of books and other materials, even movies, into Cherokee.”

KPEP used a survey of tribal members to measure the extent of Cherokee language usage. Results showed that only 460 fluent speakers were then living in Cherokee communities, with 72% of them over the age of 50. Elder speakers were dying far more quickly than new speakers were emerging. It is estimated that today number has declined to fewer than 200, with an average age of 55 years old.

While the Cherokee language has been spoken for hundreds of years, there are few trained teachers. As one tribal elder remarked, “Speaking a language means we have a culture. There is a big difference between people who have a culture and people with a history.
The KPEP plan has focused on several areas, including:
·       Curriculum development, teaching materials and teacher training.
·       Creation of a post-secondary degree program for future certified elementary education teachers of Cherokee language at Western Carolina University.
·       Scholarships for future Cherokee language teachers.
·       A community-based language program for children and adults offered by the Museum of the Cherokee Indian who want to learn Cherokee as a second language.
·       Speaker gatherings that bring together fluent speakers so they can regularly use the language. Stories and word lists are shaped into curriculum material for immersion classes.
There are also language symposiums that bring together members of the Eastern Band, the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and the United Keetoowah Band to discuss their common language.