New Kituwah Academy facts for kids

The New Kituwah Academy is a special school in Cherokee, North Carolina. Its Cherokee name is ᎠᏤ ᎩᏚᏩ ᏧᎾᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ (Atse Kituwah Tsunadeloquasdi). This school teaches students from kindergarten to sixth grade. It is a private school that teaches in both the Cherokee language and English.

The school is owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). It is run by their Kituwah Preservation and Education Program. The main goal of the academy is to help save the Cherokee language. It also helps students feel proud of their Cherokee culture. The word kituwah means "center" or "mother town" in Cherokee.

Why the Cherokee Language Needs Saving

The Cherokee language is very important to the Cherokee people. However, it is an endangered language. This means that fewer and fewer people are speaking it. In 2018, only about 1,520 Cherokee speakers were left. Most children were not learning the language at home.

Efforts to Revitalize the Language

Only a few people under 40 years old can speak Cherokee fluently. About eight fluent speakers pass away each month. The Eastern dialect, spoken in North Carolina, had about 220 speakers in 2018. This dialect is considered "severely endangered."

In June 2019, the three main Cherokee tribes worked together. They declared an emergency for the language. They wanted to boost programs that help save it. About 2,100 speakers were counted across the three tribes. Another school like New Kituwah is the Cherokee Immersion School in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

New Kituwah Academy: History and Operations

The idea for an immersion school started in the 1990s. Other native groups, like the Māori and Hawaiians, had successful language programs. In April 2004, a preschool program opened. These children later became the first kindergarten class at New Kituwah.

Building the Academy

Chief Michell Hicks played a big part in starting the academy. The school moved between buildings for a while. Then, a $6.5 million renovation was completed for its current home. The EBCI and a $1.3 million grant helped pay for this project.

The academy is located on a large piece of land. It used to be a hotel and resort. New Kituwah opened its new building on September 8, 2009. A grand opening ceremony was held on October 7, 2009.

Cherokee instruction in a classroom at New Kituwah

Teaching at New Kituwah

Cherokee language teaching is a key part of New Kituwah. A sign inside the school says, "English stops here." But to meet North Carolina's education rules, English is taught in later grades. Many of the teachers are not fluent in Cherokee themselves. This is because there are so few fluent speakers left.

By 2019, after 15 years, the school had not yet produced a fluent speaker. The school was featured in a 2014 documentary. It was called First Language: The Race to Save Cherokee.

Volunteers and Resources

A tribal elder named Myrtle Driver Johnson has helped the school a lot. She is a fluent speaker and a volunteer translator. She translated the book Charlotte's Web into Cherokee for the school. Local artists also design posters and materials in Cherokee.

New Kituwah was officially recognized by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in January 2015. In 2020, the Atlanta Braves baseball team released a special shirt. It had the Cherokee words for "ball player" on it. Money from these shirts went to Kituwah and the Cherokee Speakers Council.