Cherokee Nation graduates 6 speakers from Language Program

The Cherokee Nation’s Cherokee Language Master/Apprentice Program graduated six students on Feb. 21, during a special commencement ceremony at the Durbin Feeling Language Center in Tahlequah. Michael Fields of Wauhillau, Katera Grayson of Gore, Jacob Mankiller of Rocky Mountain, Michael Mc-Coy of Cookson, Cherokee Smith of Tahlequah, and Billie Jean Teehee of Bell, each received a plaque of completion during the ceremony.

“This graduation is so important because it reflects the urgency that we feel to revitalize this language,” Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “The best days of the Cherokee Nation are ahead of us, and we’re all on this mission to save the language. These six individuals, we put a lot on them, but they’re going to help us get there. They have bright careers ahead of them, but the thing that we must do is have a shared commitment in revitalizing this language. I’m confident that in this century, the Cherokee language will be revitalized.”

The Cherokee Nation established the Cherokee Language Master/ Apprentice Program in 2014 to teach adults to be proficient conversational Cherokee speakers and teachers. Participants receive an hourly educational stipend and typically spend 40 hours per week for two years immersed in the Cherokee language with master-level, fluent Cherokee speakers.

Master Speakers and first-language Cherokee speakers Joyce Green, Cora Flute, Doris Shell and Wynema Bush taught participants the Cherokee language in a classroom setting. In addition to classroom learning, students were encouraged to visit Cherokee-fluent elders to learn and practice speaking the language. The students also visited community organizations and schools to showcase and teach the language.

“We don’t have a whole lot of speakers left, but seeing so many first- and second-language speakers here, and seeing our graduates, this does warm our heart,” said Cherokee Nation Speaker of the Council Mike Shambaugh. “And that does bode well for our future. This administration is so strong on language preservation, and it is such an honor to see you all over there today. So again, on behalf of the Council, I would like to say congratulations.”

The program has now graduated 64 conversational, second-language Cherokee speakers since its first graduating class in 2016.

“My job took me away for about 25 years, and while I was away I learned that I had lost a lot of my language, so whenever I came back and learned that the Cherokee Nation had an adult Cherokee language program, that’s what inspired me to enroll. I spent the last two years here in the language program,” graduate Michael McCoy said.

For more information, including program qualifications, visit https://language. or call the Cherokee Language Master/ Apprentice Program office at 918-207-4995.