Portfolio of America Meredith

Spokecards are laminated cards that can be held in place by the spokes of a bicycle wheel, which bike messengers create as souvenirs for bike races and other messenger events. The international bike messenger community is a surprisingly close-knit network spanning major cities on six continents, so I am enlisting the aid of couriers to stage an international art exhibit on spokecards, Cherokee Spokespeople.

Cherokee belongs to the Iroquoian language family and is the native language of the Cherokee Nation, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the United Keetoowah Band. The language has a unique writing system developed by Sequoyah in the early nineteenth century that is still in use today in a modified form. With less than 10,000 native speakers primarily in North Carolina and Oklahoma, Cherokee is, like all other Native American languages, in extreme danger of extinction, as the social and economic impetus to speak English only drives out smaller languages. According to Cherokee Nation tribal leadership, our current generation, the fourteenth generation since European contact with the Cherokees, is said to be the generation that decides whether the language grows or dies.

My spokecards carry Cherokee words or phrases both in syllabary and Roman letters to aid in pronunciation, as well as images to illustrate the words.

After receiving a spokecard, any participating cyclist who sends me documentation – a photograph, digital image, or video – of the card on their bike featuring their city – can request a hand-drawn spokecard with a word of their choice, as long as its a word that can be illustrated. For words that don't exist yet in Cherokee, I'm enlisting the aid of native speakers to create a new word, using traditional Cherokee methods of description. For instance, I asked David Scott to invent a word for "Swedish," and he created Aniuganasta or "they are sweet." After several native speakers drew a blank for magpie, requested by no less than three bikers, Beverly "Mooney" Squirrel invented the new phrase, uwonidi tsisqua, or "chatty/outspoken bird" to mean "magpie."

To survive Cherokee cannot be regulated to the past or isolated in one geographical area. Cherokee Spokespeople is a small step towards introducing new people to the language and recontextualizing the language in an international, urban setting.

Due to a crush of activity and work, I'm putting this project on a temporary hiatus through September 1, 2008.
Check back after that time!

–America Meredith
^ left: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota phoyo by Gunnar Soroos
right: Bremen, Germany photo by Till Lienhoop

This project is dedicated to the memory of Eli Nofire, who was unfailing in his
generosity and dedication for sharing his native language to the world.

^ Albany photo by Seng Chen

Words and Phrases to Date:

^ Burnaby, British Columbia photo by David MacDonald

• adalesgiyisgi ale alasdulo - monkey and fez
• adalisgiyisgi diliyo digotlvna - sock monkey*
• adanhdo - heart*
• adawadvisdi tasdi - umbrella drink
• adayonedi - bigamy
• adolanvsdi - praying mantis / walking cane
• agatihnawidisgv - abduction
• Agetadisdi - Monopoly
• alasdulo - fez
• alawisdisgi - Zeppelin / blimp
• Ama Yeli - United States
• Amegwo Ageyuja - mermaid / Yoko Ono*
• anelohvsgi - player*
• Aniquilii - Philipines
• anitsilvsgi - flowers*
• asdaya anuwo - corset
• asegi - queer / glbt*
• asegi yona - queer bear*
• asgitsga tsuola - dream weaver*
• asusdi - gravy
• atseluhisdi - saxophone
• awohali - golden eagle
• ayeli dinigitilegi - anarchy
• dalala - woodpecker
• danalihv gitli - pit bull*
• danisvnadvsgv - barbecue
• digaliyanvhida - pack mule*
• digoksdi - cigarettes
• dihlinohehdi'i - telephone
• dilisdayohihi - bomb
• dison'sdodi - typewriter
• ditloladi - rollerskates
• dohiyi - peace*
• dotsuwa - cardinal (red bird)
• gadugi - spontaneous communal work crew*
• gahliha - sleep*
• galuyidohi - chopper
• Ganagati Gado - Doctor Who
• ganulv - weed*

• gesolini - gasoline
• giga gvnawoi tawodi - red shouldered hawk*
• gigage sudi - red hook*
• gitli - dog
• gule - dove / acorn
• Hia kla ganvnawa yiga. - This is not a pipe.
• hlvwaligi uquatliga - maple leaf
• igvyi - ace
• jitaga - chicken
• jiyu - helicopter
• kaliwohi - integrity*
• kanunu - bullfrog
• kawi - coffee
• kawoni - duck (April)
• kolanv - raven*
• kuli - raccoon
• noksi - meadowlark* (star)
• nuhlisdi gvnisdisgi - microwave
• nvnohi - path, road
• quanena - banana
• Sagei Gili Adv - Skinny Puppy
• sakonige awi - blue deer
• saloli - squirrel
• Sedani - Satan
• svdoni - barrel / tub
• svgi-yusdi - garlic (lit. onion-like)*
• tasti - beer
• Tlameha-Asgaya - Batman
• tsanela diganvsdgeni - octopus
• tsaquolade - bluebird
• tsigalili - chickadee
• tsilali - bubble gum
• tsiqualisda / tsiquilisda - blackbird*
• tsisquaya - sparrow*
• tsisdu - rabbit
• tsitsi - thistle*
• tsiyu ganohilidohi - airplane
• Tsudatihnai Mao - Chairman Mao
• tsola - tobacco
• tsulasgi - iron pot / alligator
• tsulunuhi - feathers
• tsunitlvgi digalvdodi - ambulance
• Tsuyvtlv anehi yvwi - an Inuit person
• udliada - s/he is wearing an earring
• uganawu - Democrat
• uganasisgi - addict
• uhnasuga - possum grape*
• unisdiyalvsdi jutana - indigo plant*
• usdi soquili - pony*
• utsiya - earthworm
• uyohusv galvdv - hearse
• uwonidi tsisqua - magpie*
• uyvtlv ganolvsgv - blizzard*
• wadulisi - honey / bee
• walela - hummingbird*
• wes' studi - cat door

* by request

*Locations to Date:*	^ Walker Art Center, Minneapolis photo by Seng Chen • Ithaca, New York • Kagoshima, Japan • Kenwood, Oklahoma • Kingsport, Tennessee • Lansdowne, Pennsylvania • London, England, UK • Los Angeles, California • Las Vegas, Nevada • Lyndhurst, Ohio • Madison, Wisconsin • Marquette, Michigan • Mechanicsville, Virginia • Melbourne, Australia • Merry Hill, North Carolina • Mesa, Arizona • Mexico City, Mexico • Minneapolis, Minnesota • Montclair, New Jersey • Montreal, Quebec, Canada	• Mount Pleasant, South Carolina • New Brunswick, New Jersey • New Haven, Connecticut • New York City, New York • Newport Beach, California • Niwot, Colorado • Norfolk, Virginia • Norman, Oklahoma • Oak Park, Illinois • Oakland, California • Orange, California • Orlean, New York • Paris, France • Pensacola, Florida • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Portland, Oregon • Red Hook, New York • Redmond, Washington • Reno, Nevada • Richmond, Virginia • Rochester, Minnesota • Sacramento, California • Salt Lake City, Utah • San Diego, California • San Francisco, California • Santa Barbara, California • Santa Monica, California • Santa Fe, New Mexico • Seattle, Washington • Somerville, Massachusetts • South Orange, New Jersey • Skutskär, Sweden • Stockholm, Sweden • Swannanoa, North Carolina • Sydney, Australia • Taipei, Taiwan • Tampa, Florida • Tokyo, Japan • Toronto, Ontario, Canada • Tucson, Arizona • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • Venezia, Italy • Ventura, California • Washington, District of Columbia • Waynesville, North Carolina • Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada • Zürich, Switzerland
• Akron, Ohio • Allston, Massachusetts • Auckland, New Zealand • Baltimore, Maryland • Bangor, Maine • Basel, Switzerland • Berkeley, California • Berlin, Germany • Beverly Hills, California • Boise, Idaho • Boston, Massachusetts • Bremen, Germany • Brooklyn, New York • Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada • Calgary, Canada • Charlotte, North Carolina • Chicago, Illinois • Christchurch, New Zealand • Columbus, Ohio • Copenhagen, Denmark • Cordova, Alaska • Corvallis, Oregon • Dallas, Texas • Daytona Beach, Florida • Denver, Colorado • Dublin, Ireland • Durango, Colorado • East Lansing, Michigan • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • Encinitas, California • Essex, England, UK • Flushing, New York • Franklin, Wisconsin • Fresno, California • Gainesville, Florida • Gardnerville, Nevada • Geneva, Switzerland • Glasgow, Scotland, UK • Glendale, California • Haymarket, Virginia • Helsinki, Finland • Honolulu, Hawaii • Houston, Texas • Huntington Beach, California • Indiana, Pennsylvania,

^ Lincoln Battalion Memorial, Madison WI photo by Bob Hague

^ San Francisco photo by Judah Mendez

Useful Links:

download the official Cherokee font free
Intertribal Wordpath Society - nonprofit dedicated to saving Oklahoma's native languages
Directory of Cherokee Artists Online
Cherokee Society of the Greater Bay Area (CSGBA)
International Federation of Bike Messenger Associations (IFBMA)
San Francisco Bike Messenger Association (SFBMA)
Old Skool Track - track bikes on city streets
Seng Chen photography
Fixed Gear Gallery
www.ahalenia.com

The Three Federally Recognized Cherokee Tribes:

Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah OK
Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation, Cherokee NC
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians,
Tahlequah OK

Articles about the Project

Indian Country Today - "Cherokee artist America Meredith put words on wheels" by Lisa Garrigues
Momentum - "Artist America Meredith Gives Spoke Cards a Cherokee Spin" by Amy Walker
Daily Oklahoman - "Cherokee Spokes Woman: Oklahoma native gives voice to many in San Francisco" by Ann DeFrange