Jess Bourne, Author and illustrator
Current Projects
ᏣᎳᎩ ᏥᎳᎵ (Cherokee Gum)
ᏣᎳᎩ ᏥᎳᎵ (Cherokee Gum) is a free webcomic that's posted on Instagram. It is intended to teach people Cherokee through simple conversations. Try covering up the bottom of the comic, slowly read the text and consider the context, and then uncover the English translation to see if you guessed the right translation!
These are not posted on a specific schedule, and instead are worked on when time allows. Read them at: https://www.instagram.com/jessbournesea/
ᎦᎵᏉᎩᏥᏆ ᏣᎳᎩ ᎤᏂᏁᏨ (700 Cherokee Words)
Due out in early 2025 through her Usdi Yona Books imprint, 700 Cherokee Words: Galiquogitsiqua Tsalagi Uninetsv aims to teach people of all ages, but especially young children, simple Cherokee words in a picture book format.
Inspired by a class taught by the Cherokee Nation Language Department, it recreates the feeling of attending an immersive language class and includes bright, colorful illustrations that help to make the content more interesting to young readers.
This will most likely be the first book in a Native American (US) language that uses no English for the first 40 pages, or the first nearly one thousand words. English translations begin on page 41.
Speaking to the Wind (ᎣᏥᏬᏂᎭ ᎤᏃᎴ)
Set in 1834, this middle grade graphic novel is a work of narrative nonfiction. It tells the story of one of the author's Cherokee ancestors and her family's trip west during the Indian Removal Era (also referred to as the Trail of Tears), as they travel from North Carolina to Indian Territory in modern day Oklahoma.
A date for it's release isn't set, but it will most likely be in 2026.
About Me
Jess Bourne is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in Washington State. Well respected as an engineer and internal technical writer, she enjoys taking sophisticated subjects and making them simple and easy to understand. In her free time she enjoys reading about history and learning the Cherokee language. Through books, she hopes to make our language and history more accessible to children worldwide.