Bristow resident Mary Frye remembers Wes Studi as the quiet one in Mr. Hathcoat’s history class at the Chilocco Indian School in the 1960s.

“He was very quiet,” Frye said. “I’m sure he did well in class. But he would just answer the teachers’ questions.”

At Northeastern State University’s Symposium on the American Indian on Thursday, Studi no longer sat quietly. Instead, the actor, known for his roles in such movies as “Dances With Wolves” and “The New World,” spoke out on the need to preserve Cherokee and other native languages and the need to communicate history.

“We know how so many things can change if knowledge of history is not passed on,” he said. “As much as we know we must pass on to our youth — the good and the bad. We have made mistakes, let’s hope we learn from our mistakes.”

Studi, an NSU graduate, was keynote speaker at the symposium, which runs through Saturday at NSU. The theme of this year’s symposium is “Oklahoma 1907-2007: And Still the Waters Run.” Promoters said the theme reflects how tribes seek to co-exist with modern American culture.

Preserving and updating Cherokee language is key to helping the tribe continue, Studi indicated.

“We live in the 21st century; people who can speak more than one language seem to have a better understanding,” he said, adding that Cherokee language must modernize.

“What do you call a computer? What do you call a mouse? What do you call a modem,” he said. “What about a jet airplane, jet propulsion. We cannot allow dogma to enter into the development of our language.”

Studi said language “allows us to communicate what is important to us.”

Even here, both good and bad must be preserved, he said.

“Europeans know Cherokee as a beautiful language, music to their ears,” he said.

He contrasted that by using harsh sounding Cherokee words his grandmother used to use when she was angry.

“Because Cherokee is an entire language, it has suffered arrested development,” he said, blaming part of that arrested development on his culture.

“First, because we once said you’re not going anywhere with the (Cherokee) language,” he said.

Studi was born in Nofire Hollow, which is in the Rocky Mountain area of Adair and Cherokee Counties. He attended Chilocco Indian School in north central Oklahoma before going on to NSU. Chilocco closed in 1980.

Frye, a member of the Creek Nation, said she is working to preserve her tribal language as well.

The symposium features several sessions, forums and displays showing how different indigenous people in the United States are working to preserve their language. A Native Language Revitalization Seminar will begin at 8:30 a.m. today at the NSU University Center. Other sessions focus on how allotment affected Indians since Oklahoma statehood.