Nearly two centuries after a blacksmith named Sequoyah converted American Indian language Cherokee into its own unique written form, the tribe has begun working with Apple to develop Cherokee language software for the iPhone, iPod and – soon – the iPad.

The goal, Cherokee Chief Chad Smith said, is to spread the use of the language among tech-savvy children in the digital age.

Mr Smith has been known to text students at the school using Cherokee, and teachers do the same, allowing students to continue using the language after school hours. Tribal officials first contacted Apple about getting Cherokee on the iPhone three years ago. It seemed like a long shot, as the devices support only 50 of the thousands of languages worldwide, and none were American Indian tongues. But Apple’s reputation for innovation gave the tribe hope.

After many discussions and a visit from Smith, the Cupertino, California-based company surprised the tribe by coming through. “There are countries vying to get on these devices for languages, so we are pretty excited we were included,” said Joseph Erb, who works in the Cherokee Nation’s language technology division.

The Cherokee take particular pride in their past, including the alphabet, or syllabary, Sequoyah developed in 1821.

In 1828, the tribe obtained a printing press and began publishing the ­Cherokee Phoenix, which the Cherokee claim was the nation’s first bilingual newspaper.

Copies circulated as far away as Europe, tribal officials say.