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"Choctaw Almost Became a Lost Language"
Choctaw was an Endangered Language in Mississippi Until it found a Home on World's Most Translated Website
The most translated website in the world—jw.org, the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses—includes content in more than 1,030 languages, including many Indigenous languages considered at risk of dying out.
Among them are Central Alaskan Yupik, spoken by some 10,000 in Alaska, as well as Blackfoot, Cherokee, Choctaw, Hopi, and Navajo.
“Translating Indigenous languages is a labor of love for all those involved and for our organization,” said Robert Hendriks, the U.S. spokesman of Jehovah’s Witnesses. “The work is challenging and time-consuming. But our goal isn’t to make a profit, it’s to provide the Bible’s comforting message clearly and accurately to as many people as possible.”
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Patty Nickerson, full-blood Choctaw, is a member of the Philadelphia, MS congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Witnesses knocked on her door more than 25 years ago.
“I was living in Newton County at the time,” explains Patty. “They answered all my questions using the Bible and that caught my interest, especially when I learned God has a name ─ Jehovah.”
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Today, Patty continues to volunteer her time sharing what she’s learned from the Bible with her family and others in the community; especially those living on the Choctaw reservation.
The reservation of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reaches into eight counties in the state (Neshoba, Leake, Newton, Scott, Jones, Attala, Kemper, and Winston). The tribe is one of three bands of Choctaw with federal recognition in the US.
“I was raised on the reservation with my mom who was a single parent,” says Patty. “When I first began studying the Bible, she was concerned. But in time, she saw the benefits that studying had brought to me. She even began having her own Bible study but became ill and passed away during that time.”
Today, Patty’s husband and daughter share her faith. Another daughter and several grandchildren are now studying the Bible, too.
“Choctaw almost became a lost language,” says Patty. “Having Bible-based information and videos in Choctaw on the jw.org website helps them to know that Jehovah is interested in Choctaw people, not just certain people. Choctaws are special to him, too.”
For Patty Nickerson, the Choctaw publications on jw.org have helped her to embrace her culture while deepening her faith.