WCU Cherokee Language program receives $223K grant
By Cam Adams
The Cherokee Preservation Foundation has been a pivotal supporter of Western Carolina University鈥檚 Cherokee Language program.
This past fall was no exception.
WCU Cherokee Language program director Sara Snyder Hopkins received a $223,014 grant from the foundation to expand enrollment for the program around the new Cherokee Language minor and non-credit certificate programs.
The grant will also help support the Multimodal Ethnography Learning and Design lab in the McKee Building.
鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting. It鈥檚 a relief,鈥� Hopkins said of the grant. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sustaining in a way to all the things we鈥檙e trying to keep going and start and then keep going.
As the number of first-language Cherokee speakers has dropped below 150 in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Cherokee Language program looks to support Cherokee fluency in speaking, listening, reading and writing.
Through the grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit aiming to preserve EBCI culture and language, the Cherokee Language minor at WCU had a successful first semester in the fall.
鈥淭he great benefit of the minor is it meant students could continue with Cherokee Language classes beyond what was just required for their major,鈥� Hopkins said. 鈥淲e were really excited to start that, to be able to accommodate growing the program in that way.鈥�
The non-degree certificate program was also launched last semester. The first course, taught by EBCI instructors, was held at Qualla Boundary Public Library in Cherokee. The Cherokee Preservation Foundation funds the cost of the certificate classes, so that EBCI members and tribal employees can take them for free.
Upon completion of two classes, students will receive a Cherokee language novice certificate.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the next generation of Cherokee speakers,鈥� Hopkins said. 鈥淭hose second-language learners are going to kind of be eventually stepping into the roles that the fluent, first-language speakers have been filling.鈥�
