
We Will Speak
With fewer than 1,500 fluent speakers left, a small group of Cherokee activists race to save their language from disappearing.
2023 en 94 minutes
Rating: 10
Plot
The Cherokee language is deeply tied to Cherokee identity; yet generations of assimilation efforts by the U.S. government and anti-Indigenous stigmas have forced the Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes to declare a State of Emergency for the language in 2019. While there are 430,000 Cherokee citizens in the three federally recognized tribes, fewer than an estimated 2,000 fluent speakers remain—the majority of whom are elderly. The covid pandemic has unfortunately hastened the course. Language activists, artists, and the youth must now lead the charge of urgent radical revitalization efforts to help save the language from the brink of extinction.
Trailer
Cast

Keli Gonzales
Self

Carolyn Swepston
Self

Schon Duncan
Self

Marion Scraper
Self

Eda Scraper
Self

Durbin Feeling
Self

Clifton Petit
Self

Weynema Smith
Self

David Crawler
Self

Betty Frogg
Self

Clara Proctor
Self

Cora Flute
Self

Gil Jackson
Self

Oleta Pritchett
Self

Bo Lossiah
Self

Marlene Ballard
Self

Ann Arneach
Self

Gary Wayne Vann
Self

Howard Paden
Self

Colby Luper
Self

Ernestine Berry
Self

Ryan Mackey
Self

Krystan Moser
Self

Dehaluyi Gonzales
Self

Ashlyn Fullerton
Self

Agalisiga Mackey
Self

Olivia Wildcat
Self

TJ Holland
Self

JP Johnson
Self

Lukas Swepston
Self

Dakota Brown
Self

Carney Duncan
Self

Andrew Swepston
Self