Rising Above

Language Revitalization in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

By: Benjamin E. Frey

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Hardcover | 1 July 2025

At a Glance

Hardcover
248 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
16.2 x 23.7 x 2.3

Hardcover

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Today there are roughly two hundred first-language Cherokee speakers among the seventeen thousand citizens of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. In 2019 the United Keetoowah Band, the Cherokee Nation, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians declared a state of emergency for the Cherokee language.

In Rising Above Eastern Band Cherokee citizen Benjamin E. Frey chronicles his odyssey of being introduced to the Cherokee language with trepidation as a young adult and his eventual work revitalizing the Cherokee language in a Cherokee way. In the first book to examine the process of language shift and revitalization among this band, Frey explores the institutional, economic, and social factors that drove the language shift from Cherokee to English, interpreted through the lens of a member of the Eastern Band Cherokee community in conversation with other community members. Rising Above navigates Frey's upbringing, the intricacies of language and relationships, the impact of trauma, and the quest for joy and healing within the community.

In addition to language documentation and preservation, Rising Above explores how to breathe new life into the language and community, using storytelling to discuss the Cherokee language, its grammatical components, and its embedded cultural ideologies alongside its interactions with broader American society.

Benjamin E. Frey (Eastern Band Cherokee) is an assistant professor of Cherokee language and culture at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. He is the coauthor, with John D. Loftin, of People of Kituwah: The Old Ways of the Eastern Cherokees.

Industry Reviews

"Rising Above unearths the systemic roots of language endangerment and plants the seeds of language persistence. Benjamin E. Frey illustrates dozens of ways to fearlessly use Cherokee as he generously shares his extensive knowledge of the language. Engaging and beautifully written, Rising Above is a must-read for language teachers and learners, scholars of Cherokee, and anyone seeking connections between Cherokee language and lifeways."-Ellen Cushman, Cherokee Nation citizen and author of The Cherokee Syllabary: Writing the People's Perseverance "Benjamin Frey is an excellent teacher and storyteller. Rising Above will make an important contribution to the cultural sovereignty of the Cherokee people and to the study of language shift, Native studies, cultural studies, and modern Indigenous history. Rising Above makes a powerful argument that will change lives."-Gregory D. Smithers, author of Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal, and Sovereignty in Native America

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