Myrtle Driver Johnson (born May 21, 1944) (

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), (Cherokee language, Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, ''Tsalagiyi Detsadanilvgi'') is a Federally recognized tribe, federally recognized Indian Tribe based in Western North Carolina in the U ...

) is a

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

speaker of the

Cherokee language 200px, Number of speakers Cherokee or Tsalagi ( chr, ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, ) is an endangered-to-moribund Iroquoian language and the native language of the Cherokee people. ''Ethnologue'' states that there were 1,520 Cherokee speaker ...

. As of July 2019 she was one of 211 remaining Cherokee speakers in the

(EBCI). In 2007, her tribe designated Johnson as a Beloved Woman for her translations from English into the endangered Cherokee language, support of language classes, and development of materials and literature for teaching.

Language work

Johnson serves as the EBCI Tribal Council translator and has translated for the EBCI bilingual immersion school,

New Kituwah Academy The New Kituwah Academy (Cherokee language, Cherokee: , '; ), also known as the Atse Kituwah Academy, is a private school, private bilingual Cherokee language, Cherokee- and English-language immersion school for Cherokee students in kindergarten ...

(NKA), since about 2006. For NKA, she translated the children's book ''

Charlotte's Web ''Charlotte's Web'' is a book of children's literature by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published on October 15, 1952, by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a livestock pig named Wilbur and his ...

'', the first time the book had been translated into an

indigenous American language Over a thousand indigenous languages are spoken by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. These languages cannot all be demonstrated to be related to each other and are classified into a hundred or so language families (including a large numbe ...

. Johnson translated American author

Charles Frazier Charles Frazier (born November 4, 1950) is an American novelist. He won the 1997 National Book Award for Fiction for '' Cold Mountain''. Biography Early life Frazier was born in Asheville, North Carolina, grew up in Andrews and Franklin, Nort ...

's novel ''

Thirteen Moons ''Thirteen Moons'' is a 2006 historical novel by American author Charles Frazier, his second book after the award-winning ''Cold Mountain''. Set in the mid-nineteenth century, the novel is loosely based on the life of William Holland Thomas, a C ...

'' into Cherokee. It is loosely based on the life of

William Holland Thomas William Holland Thomas (February 5, 1805 – May 10, 1893) was an American merchant and soldier. He was the son of Temperance Thomas (née Colvard) and Richard Thomas, who died before he was born. He was raised by his mother on Raccoon Cr ...

, and explores the sociopolitical events related to

Cherokee removal Cherokee removal, part of the Trail of Tears, refers to the forced relocation between 1836 and 1839 of an estimated 16,000 members of the Cherokee Nation and 1,000–2,000 of their slaves; from their lands in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carol ...

in 1839. The novel was published by the

Museum of the Cherokee Indian A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

press. She narrated her Cherokee translation of ''Thirteen Moons'' for the audio book. She also narrated ''Tsogadu Nvdo'', a Cherokee-language audio book. Johnson has been active with language and culture camps for children and speakers gatherings for adults. She has also participated in the quarterly Cherokee Language Consortium, a gathering of the three federally recognized tribes to standardize new terms in Cherokee.

Views

Johnson was interviewed for the documentary ''First Language – The Race to Save Cherokee''. She said (in comments translated into English) that "the children are learning to speak Cherokee, and I feel the Cherokee language is important because the government sees the Indians, but doesn't see them as Indians if they don't speak their own language". Johnson toured the Cherokee Nation immersion school in Oklahoma before NKA was established. She was so moved by seeing a four-year-old read Cherokee words that she stepped out of the classroom to cry. In 2019, the Tri-Council of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes declared a state of emergency with regard to the Cherokee language. This declaration included a resolution to work together on language revitalization, prompting Johnson to say "when they signed it, they made an agreement with us. They're going to help us. I'm not going to let them forget it."

Honors

The Beloved Woman honor, which is rarely given and the highest a member of the EBCI can receive, was given to Johnson in 2007.

Family

Johnson's two daughters, Myrna Climbingbear and Renissa McLaughlin, have worked with her on language revitalization. Renissa McLaughlin, also known as Renissa Walker, has managed the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program of the

Cherokee Preservation Foundation Cherokee Preservation Foundation is an independent nonprofit foundation established in 2000 as part of the Tribal-State Compact amendment between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and the State of North Carolina. The Foundation is fund ...

, overseeing NKA. Myrna Climbingbear died at age 56 in June 2018 from cancer.

Notes

References