Commentary

   G 
   

A=Alpha
B=Bravo
C=Charlie
D=Delta
E=Echo
F=Foxtrot
G=Golf
H=Hotel
I=India
J=Juliet
K=Kilo
L=Lima
M=Mike

engird engorged engineered endogamy, enigma's engram engulfs energuman  Engarde

engage engraved englacial eneagrams, engrossed energy engenders engrained   English

Cherokee Tribe Tries to Save Dying Language
LOST CITY, Oklahoma (AP) Sept. 2003 -- The kindergarten teacher speaks to her class in Cherokee. By immersing the youngsters in the language of their ancestors, tribal leaders are hoping to save one of the many endangered American Indian tongues. It is a modest start, consisting of just 10 kindergartners in a single classroom at the Lost City School, 50 miles east of Tulsa.

In Oklahoma, fewer than 8,000 of the 100,000 Cherokees can speak the language fluently, and most of those who can are over 45. Assimilation policies once discouraged Cherokees from speaking their native language in schools.

Tribal leaders say it is vital that the language survive. "We have our medicine, our plant life, our universe and the language the Creator has given us," said Harry Oosahwee, the tribe's language projects supervisor. "Our medicine doesn't understand other languages but Cherokee. All this is interconnected."

(The Cherokee alphabet, consisting of 85 symbols, each representing a syllable, was codified by Sequoyah in 1821.)

 

© Copyright 2002. All rights reserved. Contact: Jeanie S. Dean Revised: 01/17/04.