Cherokee Nation plans $16M investment in language program

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) – The new chief of the Cherokee Nation plans to invest $16 million into the Oklahoma-based tribe’s language preservation program, including a new cabinet-level position focused on its language, culture, and community.
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. announced the “Durbin Feeling Cherokee Language Preservation Act” in a statement on Friday. Feeling is a leading Cherokee linguist and one of an estimated 2,000 people the tribe currently identifies as “first-language” speakers, or those whose native language is Cherokee.
The new plan includes a $5 million renovation of the former Cherokee Casino Tahlequah building into a new language center, and a $1.5 million annual appropriation for the next five years for its operation.
The largest American Indian tribe in the United States, the 370,000-member Cherokee Nation is headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.