Sequoyah

Sequoyah was a Cherokee man. He invented a syllabary (alphabet based on syllables) for his people. Before that, they did not have an alphabet for their language.

Sequoyah (ᏍᏏᏉᏯ)
ᏍᏏᏉᏯ
Born	c. 1770 Taskigi, Cherokee Nation (near present day Knoxville, Tennessee)
Died	1843 (aged 72–73) San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Nationality	Cherokee
Other names	George Guess or Gist
Occupation(s)	silversmith, blacksmith, teacher, soldier
Known for	Inventing a syllabary for Cherokee language
Spouse(s)	1st: Sally (maiden name unknown), 2nd: U-ti-yu
Children	Four with first wife, three with second
Parent(s)	Wut-teh and unidentified father

Childhood

Sequoyah was born into the Cherokee Nation. His mother was Wut-teh. Not many people know about his early childhood. There are different stories on what happened.

Making the syllabary

Sequoyah met many white people. He was fascinated by their "talking leaves," which was their writing system on paper. He wanted to make an alphabet for Cherokees to communicate too. He began making it around 1809. First he tried to make a symbol for every word, like in Chinese. That required too much remembering. Then he tried to make one for every idea, but gave up. Finally he made one symbol for every syllable in the Cherokee language. He made a syllabary with 86 letters. Many of the letters look like English because he had an English book that he could not read.

He taught the syllabary to his daughter, Ayokeh (Ayoka). Then he tested it in front of a group of leaders. They said a word, he wrote it down, and then Ayokeh repeated them. Originally people thought it was witchcraft, but then they started liking his syllabary. Many Cherokee learned it and eventually became literate, which means they could read and write. In fact, more Cherokees could read and write better than nearby white people.

Influence

Sequoyah became a hero for giving Cherokee people a written language. Cherokee is still taught and used. There are now 85 symbols, instead of the original 86.

Other websites

• "Invention of the Cherokee Alphabet" Archived 2015-03-22 at the Wayback Machine, Cherokee Phoenix, 13 Aug 1828
• John B. Davis, "The Life and Work of Sequoyah", Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol.8 (2), June 1930 Archived 2017-10-28 at the Wayback Machine, Oklahoma State University
• "Sequoyah", Tiro Typeworks
• "Sequoyah (aka George Gist)", a North Georgia Notable Archived 2013-04-09 at the Wayback Machine
• The Cherokee Nation Official Website
• "The Official Cherokee Font" Archived 2011-05-08 at the Wayback Machine at the Cherokee Nation Official Website
• Sequoyah at Find a Grave