Who We Are
LCS History
ᏧᎾᏍᏗᎢ ᎠᏂᏣᎳᎩ ᎤᏂᎦᏔ ( Little Cherokee Seeds) program was born out of a dream of Cherokee women. These women came together in 2018 with the purpose of revitalizing the Cherokee culture and language and specifically creating fluent speakers through cultural and linguistic immersion of Cherokee infants. Our group consists of fluent, first-language Cherokee speakers, and second language learners with fluent speakers as program leaders.
The group started in 2018 when a new mother, Melissa Lewis, was unable to find resources to help her son learn the Cherokee language. After reaching out to language teachers and other mothers with similar needs and vision, a first-of-its-kind Cherokee reading hour was born. The first reading hour took place on June 15, 2019, expanded to two physical sites and then continued remotely when the pandemic began in March 2020. In total, our group delivered 25 Cherokee immersion classes to Cherokee children and their families over two years at no cost to participants.
After the completion of these classes, our group came together for a second retreat and decided that these classes were not doing enough to improve the rapid pace of language loss in our nation. In recent years, many fluent Cherokee speakers have passed away and no new fluent speakers have been created. Further, the average age of a fluent Cherokee speaker is in their 60’s. Without living speakers, we will not have access to the Cherokee language unless we make the necessary changes to ensure that the language lives on in our next generation. This shocking and frightening reality spurred the creation of this program. One speaker shared that if a child heard the Cherokee language spoken most days of their lives, they could be a fluent speaker around the age of 6; and that she had personally experienced this and had accomplished this before as an early childhood teacher.
After much discussion and planning our group dedicated ourselves to this purpose of creating fluent speakers again by approximating the day-to-day experiences that current fluent speakers experienced when they were infants and children. This includes being able to hear natural, conversational Cherokee language in relation to day-to-day activities such as cooking, gardening, and visiting with friends and families.
Cherokees are matrilineal and as Cherokee women we believe that we must step up to one of the biggest challenges that our tribe has ever faced: saving the Cherokee language. We are committed to doing whatever it takes to see that the language continues to the next generations.
LCS Values
1. Language is the heart of Cherokee culture and people
Cherokee language is our medicine, our protector, and keeps us happy, laughing, and connected to our family, tribe, and identity. We are in a crisis in which no new fluent speakers are being created; putting our entire identity and existence as Cherokees at risk. We are fully dedicated to preserving the Cherokee language.
2. Speakers and elders guide decisions and curriculum.
They should be respected, listened to, not interrupted, and properly reimbursed for the expert knowledge and time.
3. Cherokee culture comes first.
At every step and every decision, we encourage reflection and implementation of core Cherokee values (e.g., Cherokee community values).
4. Decolonizing our language and culture.
Colonial thought and behavior have been forced on Native people and take away from our rich and healthy culture. We will work to get back to our roots and core principles as Cherokee people. We aim to look to our Cherokee culture and values to guide this program and will also actively work to examine imposed non-Cherokee principles, techniques and behaviors that are harmful to us and our culture and remove them from our lifeways.
5. Honor our mothers.
Cherokee people are matrilineal and matriarchal. Mothers, aunts, and grandmothers are the backbone of our society. We will honor and respect these women in their powerful roles and support one another.
6. Honor our children.
Cherokee people hold children as the most important and sacred part of our families treating them with gentleness and kindness as they are our most precious family members.
7. Honor our language learners.
The Cherokee language is in the hands of a younger generation who have dedicated their lives to learning the language. We recognize that this is a heavy load to bear and can cause distress. Therefore, we will honor, respect, and care for the next generation who is dedicated to learning and holding the language.
English is black and white; in Cherokee, you see everything in color.ᏲᏁᎦ ᏱᎯᏬᏂ ᎢᏳᏍᏚᏭ ᎨᏒ ᎬᎾᎨ ᎠᎴ ᎤᏁᎦ ᎨᎣᎢ, ᏣᎳᎩᏃ ᏱᎯᏬᏂ ᎢᏳᏍᏚᏭ ᎤᎵᏑᏫᏓ ᎨᏐᎢ.
Kathy SierraᎨᎳᏗ