Durbin Feeling
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Durbin Feeling | |
|---|---|
ᏫᎵ ᏚᎥᎢᏅ | |
| Born | April 2, 1946 Mayes County, Oklahoma |
| Died | August 19, 2020, aged 74 Tahlequah, Oklahoma |
| Nationality | Cherokee, American |
| Occupation(s) | Linguist, educator |
Durbin Feeling (ᏫᎵ ᏚᎥᎢᏅ in Cherokee) (1946-2020) was a American Cherokee linguist who wrote the first Cherokee-English dictionary. He is considered the single largest contributor to the preservation of the Cherokee language.[1][2][3][4]
Biography
Feeling was born on April 2, 1946, in the Little Rock community east of Locust Grove, Oklahoma.[5] His parents were Jeff and Elizabeth Feeling.[6] Cherokee was his first language; he learned English when he was in the first grade.[7][4] He began to read Cherokee syllabary when he was 12 years old.[1] Feeling was a Baptist.[2]
Feeling graduated from Chilocco Indian School in 1964 and earned an associate's degree from Bacone College in 1966.[6][8] He was drafted into the Army in 1967 and served as a door gunner during the Vietnam War.[6][9] He began to write in Cherokee syllabary when corresponding with his mother in Vietnam.[4] He was awarded a Purple Heart, and he was honorably discharged in 1970.[6][7]
Durbin began his work with the Cherokee language when he returned from Vietnam.[4] In 1975, Feeling co-wrote the first Cherokee-English dictionary.[4][10] It remains the "standard publication for Cherokee language reference".[1]
Feeling earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northeastern State University in 1979 and earned a master's degree in social sciences from the University of California in 1992.[8][11][12]
Feeling taught Cherokee at universities including the University of Oklahoma, the University of Tulsa, and the University of California.[1] He authored or contributed to many books and research articles about Cherokee.[1][4] His materials for Cherokee language learners remain widely used, and many Cherokee teachers themselves learned from Feeling.[1][4]
Feeling worked for the Cherokee Nation from 1976 to 2020, including in its language translation and technology department.[7] In the 1980s, he added Cherokee syllabary to a word processor.[7] He also contributed to the addition of Cherokee syllabary to Unicode, which allows it to be widely available on computers and smartphones.[7]
In 2004, Ohio State University awarded Feeling an honorary doctorate.[9] In 2011, Feeling was named a Cherokee National Treasure in honor of his work.[1] Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. has called Feeling "a modern-day Sequoyah" (referring to the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary) and said that "[e]verything we are doing for language revitalization is because of Durbin.”[1] In 2019, the Cherokee Nation chose Feeling to the be the first signatory of the Cherokee Language Speaker's Roll.[7][10]
Feeling died August 19, 2020.[1]
The Cherokee Nation's new language learning center will be named the Durbin Feeling Language Center in Feeling's honor.[1] The Sam Noble Museum holds a Durbin Feeling Collection, containing Cherokee-language materials including letters written in Cherokee to and from members of Feeling’s family.[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Cherokee Nation mourns passing of Cherokee National Treasure Durbin Feeling, single-largest contributor to Cherokee language since Sequoyah". Anadisgoi, the Official Cherokee Nation Newsroom. August 19, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Stanley, Tim (August 20, 2020). "Durbin Feeling, Cherokee linguist and 'modern-day Sequoyah,' dies at 74". Tulsa World.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Trotter, Matt (August 20, 2020). "Durbin Feeling, Leader in Effort to Save the Cherokee Language, Dead at 74". Public Radio Tulsa. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d e f g "Language is Everything: The Story of Durbin Feeling, Cherokee Linguist". OsiyoTV. Season 5. Episode 10. November 3, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
{{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Longtime Cherokee linguist Durbin Feeling dies". Cherokee Phoenix. August 19, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d "2 vets honored for service" (PDF). Cherokee Phoenix. May 2014.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d e f Kemp, Adam (August 20, 2020). "Renowned Cherokee linguist Durbin Feeling dies". The Oklahoman.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Preaching the Gospel the Baptist way in Cherokee". Seven Clans of the Cherokee Nation of Sequoyah of Mexico, Texas, and U.S.A. Reservation and Church. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Cherokees honor Vietnam vet". Muskogee Phoenix. April 27, 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Baker, Bill John (April 25, 2019). "Registry strives to record all Cherokee speakers". Tulsa World.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ American Anthropological Association (2008). Guide: A Guide to Departments, a Directory of Members. American Anthropological Association. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-9799094-4-3.
- ^ Feeling, Durbin (2018). Cherokee Narratives: A Linguistic Study. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-8061-6062-7.
- ^ "Durbin Feeling Collection". Sam Noble Museum. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)