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UPCOMING EVENTS

May 7, 2026. 11:00 AM Pacific Time (California)

Cherokee and Unicode: Case Study for Where Language Revitalization Meets Digital Infrastructure

Description

Getting support on computers and devices for scripts and the languages of minority languages remains a challenge. Cherokee stands out as an early success story. It was included in Unicode 3.0 in 1999 and in the Unicode Common Locale Data Repository version 1.8.

This talk will relay the history of the effort to encode the script and get it implemented, and report on the current status of the Cherokee syllabary in the user community, including newer projects incorporating Cherokee syllabary. The talk will end with comments and suggestions for other communities looking to get their script into Unicode and their language supported on devices.

Registration: Registration is Open Now! Please note this session will also be recorded and available via the Unicode YouTube channel.

Speakers

Roy Boney, Jr. is an award-winning Cherokee Nation artist, filmmaker, and language revitalization activist from Tahlequah, OK. He currently works at Cherokee Film as Cherokee Language Revitalization Manager, and he is an Emmy award winning Cherokee Language Media Producer. Prior to joining the Cherokee Film team, he served as Cherokee Language Program Manager for Cherokee Nation’s Language Department for 17 years. He is also designated a Cherokee National Treasure for painting and a Master Artist by the Five Civilized Tribes Museum. His work combines Cherokee language and culture with influences from popular culture and technology. His work has been widely exhibited and published in a variety of outlets, including Indian Country Today, The Cherokee Phoenix, First American Art, Oxford University Press, and Marvel Comics.

Jeff Edwards is an award winning Cherokee Graphic artist who has worked for the Cherokee Nation for over 25 years. He is a Language Technologist at the Durbin Feeling Language Center and has worked on numerous projects that have projected the Cherokee language into the global spotlight. He attended Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS where he received his associates and attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah for his Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design. His artwork has been featured on the Atlanta BeltLine, the Cherokee Phoenix and the Cherokee Cultural Pathway along with numerous ribbons from shows in Tahlequah and Tulsa, OK and Santa Fe, NW. His artwork is almost exclusively Cherokee themed and he prefers using the Cherokee Syllabary opposed to English to promote the Cherokee language and likes using old cultural concepts but expressing them with modern electronic tools.



October 20-23, 2026. Hosted at Atelier National de Recherche Typographique (ANRT)

Unicode Technology Workshop (UTW 2026)

Description

Building on the success of UTW 2023–2025 in the heart of Silicon Valley, California, UTW 2026 brings that same spirit of openness, innovation, and in-person collaboration to the heart of Europe’s design and research ecosystem. UTW 2026 – Unicode in the World – marks the Consortium’s return to Europe. Just 90 minutes from Paris, Nancy’s rich design and cultural heritage offers an ideal setting for a gathering focused on the technologies that enable global communication and collaboration.

For four days, UTW 2026 will convene global experts across engineering, localization, type design, academia, user-experience design, and cultural preservation for an immersive program of cutting-edge tutorials, talks, and community building.

Join us for four days of deep learning, collaboration, and creativity, including:

  • Advanced Tutorials on Unicode technologies, CLDR, ICU/ICU4X, internationalization patterns, locale data, text rendering, input methods, script shaping, and global-ready engineering.
  • Talks & Panels featuring leading researchers, engineers, designers, and implementers of multilingual digital systems.
  • Exhibitions showcasing works in type design, script digitization, multilingual UX, writing-system innovation, and language-technology projects from around the world.
  • Networking & Community Gatherings with speed networking, hallway conversations, evening meet-ups, and opportunities to connect with practitioners shaping global text and language technology.


To find out more details about the Unicode Technology Workshop, including location details, visit: https://www.unicode.org/events/utw/.

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For previous events, please see the Recent Unicode Events page.