Cherokee, Apple partner to put language on iPhones

[yellerpup]

Keeping our language alive! I am so proud of my tribe.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101223/ap_on_hi_te/us_iphone_cherokee_language

Cherokee, Apple partner to put language on iPhones

December 23, 2010 5:46 AM EST
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) — Nine-year-old Lauren Hummingbird wants a cell phone for Christmas — and not just any old phone, but an iPhone. Such a request normally would be met with skepticism by her father, Cherokee Nation employee Jamie Hummingbird.
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.
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.