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New Kituwah Academy

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The New Kituwah Academy (Cherokee: ᎠᏤ ᎩᏚᏩ ᏧᎾᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ, Atse Kituwah Tsunadeloquasdi;[6][7] gi-DOO-wah),[8] also known as the Atse Kituwah Academy,[9] is a private bilingual Cherokee- and English-language immersion school for Cherokee students in kindergarten through sixth grade,[10] located in Cherokee, North Carolina,[11] in the Yellow Hill community of the Qualla Boundary.[9] It is owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI),[12] and operated by the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program (KPEP).[13][14]

New Kituwah Academy
ᎠᏤ ᎩᏚᏩ ᏧᎾᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ
Address
Map
60 Waterdam Road

Cherokee
,
Swain
,
North Carolina
28719

United States
Coordinates35°30′04″N 83°18′37″W / 35.501071°N 83.310233°W / 35.501071; -83.310233
Information
Motto"Kituwah First"[1]
Opened19 April 2004 (2004-04-19)[2]
StatusOpen
AuthorityEastern Band of Cherokee Indians
NCES School IDA1302201[3]
PrincipalCrystal Carpenter[4]
Enrollment98[5] (2018)
AccreditationSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools
Websitehttps://ebcikpep.com/
This article contains Cherokee syllabic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Cherokee syllabics.

The school is part of a larger effort by the EBCI to save and revitalize the endangered Cherokee language by creating immersion and other language-learning opportunities;[15] it also instills Cherokee cultural pride.[16]

The word kituwah (ᎩᏚᏩ) is used by the Eastern Cherokee to refer to both themselves and their language; it can also mean "center" or "mother town" depending on context.[8] New Kituwah is independent from the Cherokee Central Schools at Qualla Boundary.[17]

Background

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In 2018 there were 1,520 Cherokee speakers out of 376,000 Cherokee enrolled in three federally recognized tribes, according to Ethnologue, which classified the language as "moribund."[18] This means that most children are not learning and speaking the language. Only a handful of people under 40 years of age are fluent in Cherokee, and about eight Cherokee speakers die each month.[19]

In 2018, the Eastern dialect present in North Carolina (which is taught at New Kituwah) was known by about 220 Eastern Band speakers.[18] UNESCO considers the North Carolina dialect of Cherokee "severely endangered".[20]

In June 2019, the Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes—the EBCI, the Cherokee Nation, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians—declared a state of emergency for the language due to the threat of it going extinct; they called for enhancement of revitalization programs.[21] A tally by the three tribes had garnered a list of ~2,100 remaining speakers.[21]

Another similar institution is the Cherokee Immersion School (Tsalagi Tsunadeloquasdi) in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.[22]

History and operations

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In the 1990s, Cherokee Chief Joyce Dugan oversaw the creation of the Cultural Resources Division of the EBCI.[14] The idea of an immersion school came up as other native peoples worldwide, such as the Māori, Hawaiians, Mohawk, and Piegan, had successfully created their own immersion programs. Later, in April 2004, a preschool immersion program was opened in the Dora Reed Childcare Center;[5][2] these children comprised the first kindergarten class when the school opened.[14] Chief Michell Hicks was largely responsible for establishing the academy. Classes had to move between buildings before a $6.5 million renovation was completed for the current location. This project was funded by the EBCI and a $1.3 million grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation.

The academy is located on the 309 acres (125 ha) site[23] of the former Boundary Tree hotel and resort.[13] New Kituwah opened in its newly remodeled, permanent building on September 8, 2009,[24] and the school held its grand opening ceremony on October 7, 2009.[13]

 
Cherokee instruction in a classroom at New Kituwah

Cherokee language instruction is a feature of New Kituwah,[23] and inside the school is a prominent sign that states "English stops here."[9][25] But to meet North Carolina's education standards, the school also begins to introduce English to students in the later grades.[26] Similar to many other indigenous languages, there are few living fluent speakers of Cherokee, so many of the school's instructors are not fluent themselves.[8][11]

As of 2019, after 15 years of operations, the school has not yet produced a fluent speaker.[27] The school was featured in the 2014 documentary First Language: The Race to Save Cherokee, which focuses on the dialect of Cherokee spoken in North Carolina,[28] and was also the focus of an undergraduate honors thesis project in 2017.[29]

Tribal elder Myrtle Driver Johnson, who was given the title of Beloved Woman by the EBCI and is fluent, has been an active volunteer translator for the school.[30] For New Kituwah, Johnson translated E. B. White's Charlotte's Web; one copy was given to the White estate and New Kituwah kept 200 books.[17] Other posters and materials in Cherokee are designed by local artists and printed nearby.[9]

New Kituwah was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in January 2015.[8]

In 2020, the Atlanta Braves released a shirt with the text ᎠᏁᏦᎥᏍᎩ, anetsovsgi, 'ball player' to "help bring awareness to the native language" with the proceeds going to Kituwah and the Cherokee Speakers Council.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Redmond, Mary Lynn; Wiethaus, Ulrike (Fall 2009). "The Atse Kituwah Academy: An Immersion Model that Holds the Key to the Future of the Cherokee Language and Culture". Learning Languages. 15 (1): 34–37. ISSN 1083-5415. ERIC EJ871246.
  2. ^ a b McKie, Scott (2011-04-19). "Seven Years! New Kituwah Academy celebrates anniversary". Cherokee One Feather. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  3. ^ "School Detail for New Kituwah Academy". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  4. ^ Kituwah Preservation and Education Program Accessed June 3, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Keeping the Cherokee Language Alive: Teaching Children Early On". visitcherokeenc.com. 2018-01-26. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  6. ^ "KPEP/NKA Calendar" (PDF). New Kituwah Academy. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Cherokee Nation Education Services". Cherokee Nation. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d Waggoner, Martha (2015-03-27). "Hopes of preserving Cherokee language rest with children". Hickory Record. Associated Press. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d Sauceman, Fred (May 13, 2015). "Immersion School Works to Save the Cherokee Language". Our State Magazine. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  10. ^ "KPEP and Kituwah". Eastern Band of Cherokee. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  11. ^ a b Schlemmer, Liz (2018-12-24). "To Save Their Endangered Language, 2 Cherokee Brothers Learn As They Teach". NPR. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Cherokee Language". Cherokee Preservation Foundation. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  13. ^ a b c McKie, Scott (2009-10-13). "New Kituwah Academy officially opens". Cherokee One Feather. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  14. ^ a b c Weston, J. "New Cherokee School Opens". Cultural Survival. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  15. ^ Jessel, Christine (2013-09-26). "Lessons In Cherokee Teach More Than Language". WUOT. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  16. ^ Relyea, Laura. "With Drawl". The Bitter Southerner. Retrieved 28 February 2019. The Eastern Cherokees are working hard to preserve their languages. Educational programming that happens there, as well as at the Atse Kituwah Immersion Academy, aims to get Cherokee children speaking the language at a young enough age that they can grow up comfortably within it, and pass the along to generations to follow. They also aim to instill the children with the a strong sense of cultural pride.
  17. ^ a b Neal, Dale (2016-05-26). "Beloved children's book translated into Cherokee". Asheville Citizen Times. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  18. ^ a b "Cherokee: A Language of the United States". Ethnologue. SIL International. 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  19. ^ Ridge, Betty (Apr 11, 2019). "Cherokees strive to save a dying language". Tahlequah Daily Press. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  20. ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  21. ^ a b McKie, Scott (June 27, 2019). "Tri-Council declares State of Emergency for Cherokee language". Cherokee One Feather. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  22. ^ Overall, Michael (Feb 7, 2018). "As first students graduate, Cherokee immersion program faces critical test: Will the language survive?". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  23. ^ a b Wood, Colman (2011-04-04). "Keepers of the Flame: Reigniting the Cherokee Language and Culture". Blue Ridge Outdoors. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  24. ^ Murphy, Jami (2010-10-19). "New Kituwah Academy finds its home". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  25. ^ Washburn, Mark (2015-04-07). "Film captures dying language in NC". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  26. ^ Valle, José (2018-05-03). "Minding their tongue: Cherokees work to keep their native language alive". UNC Media Hub. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  27. ^ Schlemmer, Liz (October 28, 2018). "North Carolina Cherokee Say The Race To Save Their Language Is A Marathon". North Carolina Public Radio. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  28. ^ "First Language - The Race to Save Cherokee". YouTube.
  29. ^ Albee, Elizabeth, "Immersion Schools and Language Learning: A Review of Cherokee Language Revitalization Efforts among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians" (2017). University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects.
  30. ^ Kays, Holly (Sep 19, 2018). "Cherokee from the heart: Beloved Woman reflects on a wandering life rooted in Cherokee language". Smoky Mountain News. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  31. ^ "Atlanta Braves and the Native American Community". Atlanta Braves. 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
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