Indigenous Languages Aren't Dead: How Music Is Upholding Them

Rappers, folk singers and reggae musicians singing in their Native tongue represent ways the Cherokee language is engaging new and younger speakers.

Kalyn Fay’s musical influences range from country to disco to pop. Family, culture and her relationship to the land in Oklahoma all figure into her music, as well as her Cherokee heritage. 

"I grew up in Oklahoma all over the place," Fay said. "I was in Okmulgee, Okemah, Claremore and then in Tahlequah, and now I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma."

That’s why she wanted to perform on a new album called "Anvdvnelisgi," written and sung all in the Cherokee language.