Eastern Cherokee Histories in Translation (ECHT)

FAIN: RQ-292615-23

Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, NC 28723-9646)
Sara Snyder Hopkins (Project Director: November 2022 to present)

Preparation for an annotated translation of a series of critical editions, with digital components, of handwritten Eastern Cherokee social documents from the mid 1880s to the early 1990s. (12 months) 

Developing Eastern Cherokee Histories in Translation (ECHT) is a project to collect, translate, and annotate handwritten Eastern Cherokee social documents as a series of printed critical editions with interactive digital components. We are seeking funding from the NEH as a planning grant to support phase one of the project in which we will determine the overall scope and corpus, a site for hosting digital components, and plans for print dissemination. The archival materials under consideration stand as the largest body of existing Cherokee documents that articulate the history of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) from the mid-nineteenth century through the early twentieth century from a Cherokee perspective in the Cherokee language. However, this perspective is inaccessible for all but a handful of fluent, literate Cherokee speakers because only a small fraction of these documents has been translated into English.

Media Coverage

Cherokee Language Program's ECHT Project receives $64,905 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Brooklyn Brown
Publication: WCU Stories
Date: 8/21/2023
Abstract: The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded Sara Snyder Hopkins, assistant professor and director of the Cherokee Language Program at Western Carolina University, a grant of $64,905 for her ongoing translation project, Eastern Cherokee Histories in Translation.
URL: https://www.wcu.edu/stories/posts/News/2023/08/cherokee-language-programs-echt-project-receives-64905-grant-from-the-national-endowment-for-the-humanities.aspx