iOS 4.1 Brings Cherokee Language Support

iOS 4.1 reportedly adds support for the Cherokee tribe’s language, making it the first Native language to be featured on Apple devices. Called the Cherokee syllabary, the language is used by more than 290,000 Cherokee citizens.

According to a report, the Cherokee Nation has been working with Apple’ developers for several years now in an effort to incorporate the tribe’s unique written language in Apple products.

The new language support will allow Cherokee speakers to communicate via email, text messages using the iOS platform, the report says.

Developers, for their part, will find it easier to create new Cherokee applications with built-in support for the language.

“People communicate differently today,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith, in a statement.

“Including our language on the iPhone and iPod makes it accessible to more people, especially our youth. This is critical to the survival and growth of our language.”

“Long ago, Cherokee diplomat and scholar Sequoyah worked for years to develop a written language for our people,” Smith said.

“He knew that the strength of non-Indians was their ability to communicate in a written language. Of course, he was right.

“What he may not have been aware of was the lasting impact of our written language; that it would carry with it much of our culture, our history and our belief system.”

“I believe that our language is the essence of our people. To that end, we started a language revitalization initiative several years ago to get our young people interested in learning the language,” Smith concluded.

Smith suggested that this language initiative would have never succeeded without the hard work of the Cherokee speakers and Cherokee Nation education staff.

He reportedly extended a special thanks to Joseph Erb, Roy Boney and Jeff Edwards, who worked closely with Apple on the project.