Joseph Erb, a Cherokee animator and educator, has played a significant role in promoting Indigenous languages and culture through art and technology. More than two decades ago, Erb created the first animation in the Cherokee language, “The Beginning They Told,” which features traditional Cherokee stories and imparts cultural lessons. Despite being offered a teaching position at an Ivy League institution, Erb chose to return to Oklahoma to teach animation and storytelling to Cherokee and Muscogee Creek students.
Erb’s teaching methods adapted to limited resources, initially using stop motion animation when computer access was scarce. His classes encouraged students to share and animate Cherokee stories, fostering cultural exchange and preservation.
In the late 2000s, Erb led efforts to integrate the Cherokee language into major technology platforms. After initial rejection from Microsoft due to the small number of speakers, Erb facilitated meetings between tech companies and Cherokee leaders. This resulted in the Cherokee language being included in Apple’s iOS 4.1 in 2010, marking the first time an Indigenous language was supported on Apple devices. Subsequent collaborations brought the language to Google’s search engine and Gmail, as well as Microsoft Windows 8 and 10. These projects required extensive volunteer work within the Cherokee community, amounting to over a million translations.
Erb also assisted other Indigenous nations, such as the Osage, in similar technology initiatives. His work reflects the Cherokee tradition of embracing new technologies, exemplified by their early adoption of the Native printing press.
Beyond technology, Erb is recognized for his artistic contributions, including children’s book illustrations and copper artwork. His piece “Indigenous Brilliance,” displayed at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma, received the “Creative Native” award in 2022.
Since joining the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) film and digital media department in 2022, Erb has contributed to the university’s growing Indigenous studies community. Colleagues describe him as a generous educator who prioritizes community-focused scholarship. John Brown Childs, a distinguished emeritus professor at UCSC, noted Erb’s commitment to supporting both his own Cherokee Nation and other Indigenous communities.
Celine Parreñas Shimizu, former Dean of the Arts at UCSC, emphasized that Erb’s approach redefines scholarship as service to the community. She said, “He said, ‘I don’t do my research for myself. I do it for the Cherokee people.’” She added that students are increasingly seeking decolonized curricula, including Native American cinema, which makes educators like Erb especially valued at UCSC.
UC Santa Cruz is also recognized for its work in language and artificial intelligence research. Matthew Wagers, professor and chair of the linguistics department, is leading an initiative to create a cross-campus research network focused on diversity in language technology. The project aims to address biases in AI language models by including a wider range of languages and speaking patterns in their development.
Wagers highlighted the importance of making language technologies accessible to diverse communities, including those who communicate differently or use less-represented languages. He cited Erb’s work in bringing the Cherokee language to digital platforms as an example of impactful access-building. Wagers said, “We live our lives online and through technology now, and if we simultaneously want to live our lives in the language of our community or of our family and heritage, there has to be an effort to bridge this gap.”
The integration of the Cherokee language into technology presented unique challenges due to its 86-character syllabary and tonal nature, which complicated keyboard design and voice-to-text development. Despite these difficulties, Erb noted that technological progress has made it easier for Cherokee filmmakers and writers to work in their language today.
Reflecting on his career, Erb expressed optimism about the future of Cherokee language preservation. “Our language is still in decline, but we have more tools than we used to when I started,” he said. “The tech companies now take us seriously. When I first started reaching out, we weren’t even a thought.” He added that his current work is more focused on creative storytelling rather than technical challenges, contributing to the preservation of important cultural knowledge.
