[Dtb-talk] Cherokee Braille Code developed

[Greg Kearney]

A Cherokee Braille code has been developed by Tamara Kearney of the Commonwealth Braille & Talking Book Cooperative. This code permits the reading and writing of the Cherokee syllabary in Braille for the first time.

The Cherokee Braille code permits the "blind, as well as the sighted, to be able to read and write in their native language."  Ms. Kearney said.

"It’s exciting that our Cherokee citizens who are visually impaired can now read stories in their first language," said Roy Boney, language program manager. "We provided copies of our Cherokee Syllabary, sample text and other items to be able to make Braille in Cherokee a reality. We want to stay in the forefront by offering the Cherokee language on as many written tools as possible to preserve and protect our native tongue."

The full description and use of the code can be found at the following URLs:

http://www.cbtbc.org/cherokee
http://www.cbtbc.org/ᏣᎳᎩ

The Cherokee syllabary stands as one of the major advancement in literacy among the native peoples of North America. It was invented by Sequoyah (ᏍᏏᏉᏯ) [c. 1770-1843] between the late 1810s and early 1820s. The creation of the syllabary is noteworthy in that Sequoyah could not previously read or write in any script. It remains today the only example of a modern writing system developed independent of a previous background in an existing writing system.

The Cherokee Braille code was developed by Tamara Kearney who is also the developer of the Inuktitut Braille code used by the first nations people of Canada's far north.

Cherokee Braille is supported in version 2 of Braille2000 a commercial Braille production system offered by Computer Application Specialties Company of Lincoln, Nebraska. This permits the publication of Cherokee Braille from existing and future Cherokee texts. In addition translation tables have been developed for the open source Liblouis computer braille translation system. It is hopped that other braille translation system will also include Cherokee as an option. 

http://www.braille2000.com
http://www.liblouis.org

Commonwealth Braille & Talking Book Cooperative
605 Robson Street, Suite 850
Vancouver BC V6B 5J3
CANADA
Email: info at cbtbc.org

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