“He could dismiss the obvious reasons a kid might want an iPhone, except for this — he’s a proud Cherokee and buying his daughter the phone just might help keep the tribe’s language alive,” AP reports. “Nearly two centuries after a blacksmith named Sequoyah converted Cherokee into its own unique written form, the tribe has worked with Apple to develop Cherokee language software for the iPhone, iPod and — soon — the iPad. Computers used by students — including Lauren — at the tribe’s language immersion school already allow them to type using Cherokee characters.”
“The goal, Cherokee Chief Chad Smith said, is to spread the use of the language among tech-savvy children in the digital age,” AP reports. “Smith has been known to text students at the school using Cherokee, and teachers do the same, allowing students to continue using the language after school hours.”
AP reports, “Tribal officials first contacted Apple about getting Cherokee on the iPhone three years ago. It seemed like a long shot, as the devices support only 50 of the thousands of languages worldwide, and none were American Indian tongues. But Apple’s reputation for innovation gave the tribe hope.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Robert S.” for the heads up.]
Way to go Apple!!!
I seem to remember that the US military used the Cherokee language during WWII as a secret code language – one of those unsung stories that deserve to be told…
Darn good thing.
How else would Time Warner Cable communicate with their dispatchers?
I believe the military used Navajo.
@philtag
It seemed to be the Navajo. Isn’t it?
@philtag
It was Navajo, not Cherokee, in WWII. But this is still a terrific story!
I heard that not only are they so proud to live,
but al(so) proud to die….
My understanding is that they used more than just Navajo, that they used other native American languages as well.
ᏣᏔᎧᎿᏀᏍᏜᏩᏯᎦᎭᎳᎹᎾᏆᏌᏓᏝᎡᎢᎣᎤᎥ
You’re referring to the Code Talkers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker
Maybe I should have spent 30 secs to do some basic research! It seems Navajo is the main language, but Wikipedia does note that Cherokee was used first in WWI. Still a great story and so typical of Apple to do this…
This is good.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” /> Kudos to Apple.
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
@ᏣᏯ – If you Google ᏣᏔᎧᎿᏀᏍᏜᏩᏯᎦᎭᎳᎹᎾᏆᏌᏓᏝᎡᎢᎣᎤᎥ you are the top hit. FWIW.
I head this a few months back. This yet another great iPhone story.
ᏣᏔᎧᎿᏀᏍᏜᏩᏯᎦᎭᎳᎹᎾᏆᏌᏓᏝᎡᎢᎣᎤᎥ
Wow, those are beautiful characters.
Great!… Another group of Americans who want to be “different” from “other” Americans.
FurryOne:
Wouldn’t you want to preserve the only thingbleft of your natural heritage if that’s all you had left?
Hey FurryOne, turns out, they were Americans, long before your sorry ass!
Awesome!!!
We are all different, and we all would be better off if we accepted and even embraced our differences and worked together in spite of, and because of those differences.
Peace on Earth!!!! And thanks to all the “Different” Chinese, Indians, Indonesians, Koreans, Europeans, Americans, Christians, Muslims, Pagans, Jews, Buddhists, Capitalists, Socialists, Communists, Engineers, Programmers, Miners, Smelters, Recyclers, Programmers, Etc…… who work hard and contribute to bring me my favorite products.
@FurryOne
I know! Right! What’s up with those all those immigrants like the Cherokee who don’t want to mix in with us true Americans!!! Right?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”rolleyes” style=”border:0;” />
See, THIS is the sort of story we need more of on MDN; the petty, Apple vs. Everybody Else rants and nasty political threads, while occasionally amusing, get tiring real fast.
great story. Great job Apple. but what else would you expect from them. a classy act all the way
@ KenC
The Cherokee syllabary was invented by Sequoia, a blacksmith who couldn’t read or write English. You’re right, he did a heck of a job.
@ FurryOne
I think you may have inadvertently misspelled ‘merkins’ as ‘Americans’ in your post.
Hey, cherokees are immigrants too, right? Aren’t we all africans?
Spare the language, end the entire reservation system. It’s a farce. Somebody was here before the indians too. Why start history with them. Sounds like more asswipe lib entitlement generation wikileakers whining to me.