Fluent in Cherokee, man hopes app will help keep language alive (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

March 14, 2011

Fluent in Cherokee, man hopes app will help keep language alive

By Keith Purtell
Phoenix Staff Writer

Harry Oohsawee hopes the latest technology will offer a new way to
prevent the Cherokee language from dying off.

Oohsawee, fluent in Cherokee, contributed his voice and image to a
company that specializes in applications that are intended to
revitalize Native American languages.

Don Thornton, president of Thornton Media in Las Vegas, Nev., made
several trips to Tahlequah to work with Oohsawee an instructor in the
Cherokee Language Education Program at Northeastern State University.

The app, “Writing Cherokee 1.1,” was in development for two years
before its recent release. It works on iPhone (OS 4.2 or later, 19.7
MB), iPod touch, and iPad (21.6 MB). There’s a large potential market:
The 2000 U.S. Census (latest statistics) showed at least 729,533
people who were full-blood Cherokee or Cherokee mixed with another
tribe.

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http://muskogeephoenix.com/local/x449492606/Fluent-in-Cherokee-man-hopes-app-will-help-keep-language-alive