The Cherokee language recently became the 57th language offered in Gmail, the email system powered by Google. The project was a collaboration between Google and the Cherokee Nation.
Joseph Erb, language technologist at the Cherokee Nation said, “Projects like these give more life to our language in our communities. It is not just about preserving our language and culture. It is about using our language each day and every day and continuing who we are as a people. And this give us that chance each time we check our email.”
Alex Cruz, electronic media coordinator for the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program, stated, “This is a another huge milestone and honor for us not just here at New Kituwah Academy but for us as Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation. These worldwide tech giants continue to grace our language with there technology. It gives users of Google’s electronic mail service (GMail) the option to use our language for the interface. As a whole anyone out there who reads and writes Cherokee can utilize this worldwide and for our students it gives them another outlet and utility to use to help grow the language.”
If you are interested, you can switch to Cherokee in Settings by visiting https://mail.google.com/mail/#settings.
– ONE FEATHER STAFF REPORT
