A U.S. Air Force veteran and pastor of New Jordan Baptist Church in Mayes County, Oklahoma, Russell Feeling has dedicated his life to keeping the Cherokee language alive. A first-language Cherokee speaker, Feeling learned to read and write Cherokee while serving in the military because his mother wrote letters to him exclusively in the language. Today, New Jordan Baptist Church is one of the few Cherokee-speaking churches within the Cherokee Nation Reservation, with services provided in Cherokee. Feeling also offers Cherokee language classes through his church. Through language, storytelling, preaching and song, he helps Cherokee traditions and culture continually thrive while passing knowledge from one generation to the next.
