Durbin Feeling
Durbin Feeling | |
---|---|
ᏫᎵ ᏚᎥᎢᏅ | |
Durbin Feeling, 1964 | |
Born | |
Died | August 19, 2020 | (aged 74)
Nationality | Cherokee Nation, American |
Occupation(s) | Linguist, educator |
Durbin Feeling (Cherokee: ᏫᎵ ᏚᎥᎢᏅ, romanized: Wili Duvinv; April 2, 1946 – August 19, 2020) was a Cherokee Nation linguist who wrote the primary Cherokee–English dictionary in 1975. He is considered the greatest modern contributor to the preservation of the endangered Cherokee language.[1][2][3][4]
Early life
[edit]Feeling was born on April 2, 1946, to Jeff and Elizabeth Feeling in the Little Rock community east of Locust Grove, Oklahoma.[5][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 graduated from Chilocco Indian School (a Native American boarding 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 while he was in Vietnam.[4] He was awarded a Purple Heart, and he was honorably discharged in 1970.[6][7]
Career
[edit]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, Irvine in 1992.[9][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 language teachers learned directly 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 the Cherokee syllabary to a word processor.[7] He also contributed to the addition of the Cherokee syllabary to Unicode, which allows it to be widely available on computers and smartphones.[7]
Personal life and death
[edit]Feeling was a Baptist lay minister.[8][13]
He died August 19, 2020.[1]
Influence and legacy
[edit]For his contributions to the preservation of the Cherokee language and Cherokee culture, Feeling was named a Cherokee National Treasure by the Cherokee Nation. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Ohio State University.[1][9] Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. has described Feeling as "a modern-day Sequoyah" (referring to the creator 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 as the first signatory of the Cherokee Language Speakers Roll.[7][10]
Feeling is the namesake of the Cherokee Nation's language learning center (the Durbin Feeling Language Center)[14] and 2022 legislation protecting indigenous languages (the Durbin Feeling Native American Languages Act).[15]
The Sam Noble Museum holds the Durbin Feeling Collection, containing his extensive Cherokee-language materials, including letters written in Cherokee to and from members of Feeling’s family.[16]
Selected works
[edit]- Feeling, Durbin. Cherokee–English Dictionary. Tahlequah: Cherokee Nation, 1975.
- Feeling, Durbin. A structured approach to learning the basic inflections of the Cherokee verb. Neff Publishing Company, 1994.
- Tuyl, Charles D. Van; Durbin Feeling (1994). An Outline of Basic Verb Inflections of Oklahoma Cherokee. Indian University Press. ISBN 978-0-940392-07-6.
- Pulte, William, and Durbin Feeling. "Morphology in Cherokee Lexicography." Making dictionaries: Preserving indigenous languages of the Americas (2002): 60.
- Feeling, Durbin, ed. See-say-write: Method of Teaching the Cherokee Language. Cherokee Nation, Indian Adult Education, 2002.
- Feeling, Durbin, et al. "A handbook of the Cherokee verb: a preliminary study." Tahlequah, Okla.: Cherokee Heritage Center (2003).
- Feeling, Durbin, et al. "Why revisit published data of an endangered language with native speakers? An illustration from Cherokee." Language Documentation & Conservation 4 (2010): 1-21.
- Feeling, Durbin; Christiansen, Lisa Christine (2015). Cherokee Hymn Book. Penguin International Publishing. ISBN 978-0-692-47367-2.
- Herrick, Dylan, Marcellino Berardo, Durbin Feeling, et al. "Collaborative documentation and revitalization of Cherokee tone." Language Documentation & Conservation 9 (2015): 12-31.
- Feeling, Durbin. Cherokee Narratives: A Linguistic Study. University of Oklahoma Press, 2018.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i "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. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
- ^ Stanley, Tim (August 20, 2020). "Durbin Feeling, Cherokee linguist and 'modern-day Sequoyah,' dies at 74". Tulsa World.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Longtime Cherokee linguist Durbin Feeling dies". Cherokee Phoenix. August 19, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "2 vets honored for service" (PDF). Cherokee Phoenix. May 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 22, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Kemp, Adam (August 20, 2020). "Renowned Cherokee linguist Durbin Feeling dies". The Oklahoman.
- ^ a b c "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 August 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Cherokees honor Vietnam vet". Muskogee Phoenix. April 27, 2014.
- ^ a b Baker, Bill John (April 25, 2019). "Registry strives to record all Cherokee speakers". Tulsa World.
- ^ Guide: A Guide to Departments, a Directory of Members. American Anthropological Association. 2008. 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.
- ^ Johnson, Keith (April 15, 2002). "Untitled [letter recommending Durbin Feeling for honorary doctorate]". Archived from the original on May 3, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ^ Bark, Lindsey (November 16, 2022). "CN celebrates opening of Durbin Feeling Language Center". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ^ Hunter, Chad (January 10, 2023). "President Biden signs Native language acts into law". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ "Durbin Feeling Collection". Sam Noble Museum. February 19, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
- Cherokee language
- Linguists from the United States
- 1946 births
- 2020 deaths
- People from Mayes County, Oklahoma
- Military personnel from Oklahoma
- Northwestern State University alumni
- University of California, Irvine alumni
- Writers from Oklahoma
- Translation dictionaries
- American lexicographers
- American translators
- Cherokee Nation male writers
- Cherokee Nation writers
- United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War
- Alumni of Native American boarding schools
- Language teachers
- Bacone College alumni
- University of Oklahoma faculty
- University of Tulsa faculty
- University of California faculty
- United States Army soldiers
- 20th-century Native American writers
- Native American Christians
- Baptists from Oklahoma
- Native American linguists
- 21st-century Native American writers