Meg Cassidy is an undergraduate student at Northeastern University, driven by her immense passion for writing, language and culture. Meg has been involved with DAILP since January of 2023, when she met Professor Ellen Cushman in her “Writing Cultures” class. Despite not being a part of the Cherokee community herself, Meg knows how it feels to be disconnected from your cultural history and native tongue by colonization. Meg’s family spans back generations to Irish ancestry. Before British colonization, the people of Ireland spoke Gaelic as their primary language. This colonization brought attempts to exterminate the native language and force the country to assimilate into the English tongue. Meg’s parents moved from Ireland to Boston in the 2000s, bringing with them their love of their people and their heritage! 

And so, because of her desire to utilize language to cultivate community, Meg was ecstatic when she was presented the opportunity to join the DAILP team! Her passion for the project and its goals has only grown since.

Meg’s involvement with DAILP began with becoming familiar with the Cherokee language, correcting discovered errors in the project database based on community feedback. Her role now is more centered around her interest in professional writing, working to craft stories  about the project and the amazing, hardworking people that make it all happen! Her stories have ranged from discussing the impact of language preservation on native communities to describing what the team’s editors found meaningful from their work! 

Being interested in writing since childhood, it means a lot to Meg that she has been able to further develop her passion in a way that benefits her and her community. 

Many of Meg’s family who are still living in Ireland speak Gaelic as their primary language in their household, refusing to let go of their language and history. Meg has always aspired to learn Gaelic; a goal she is only beginning to undertake. She has learned the history that was stolen from the Irish people. She has grown up hearing stories about the devastation that resulted from British colonization and its legacy. Meg’s parents recognized the limitations of living in their homeland and made the bold decision to leave. They sought more for their children. Meg understands what it means to have imperial tragedy woven into a culture, language, and history of a people. She’s dedicated to working with her team and community members to persist with and document the language with the Cherokee people. 

Writing for DAILP has helped Meg reconnect with her heritage: to understand what was lost, and what can still be recovered. She is beyond proud to be a part of the larger effort to resist language loss: to preserve the words, traditions and stories that define Cherokee culture.