Sequoya, the creator of the
Cherokee syllabary, left a mark upon all Indian history by providing a means to record and
transmit the language of his people.
Work on his "talking
leaves," as the symbols were called, began about 1809 and consumed most of
Sequoia’s time until the system was perfected in 1821. The syllabary was proven and
adopted by the Cherokees in the winter of 1821-22. Within a relatively short time all
members of the Cherokee Nation could read, a printing press had been set up, and a
newspaper had begun publication. Piles of The Cherokee Phoenix from 1828 show a wide range
of subjects discussed, the paper being printed partly in English and partly with the
Cherokee characters, which had been cast into type.
Sequoia was born in
Tuskegee, Tennessee, on the Tennessee River in the Overhills country. Grant Foreman, who
wrote one of the best books on Sequoya, titled Sequoya, sets his birth date at 1760.
Sequoya, a silversmith and
blacksmith, was lame as the result of a hunting accident. His work in perfecting the
syllabary made a virtual recluse of him, and earned him jibes from his tribesmen. All this
was changed upon the introduction of his "talking leaves," and he became a
recognized leader of his people. His greatest concern was for the Cherokees. He made
several trips to Washington in the interest of the Cherokee Nation, and was active in
tribal governmental affairs.
Late in life Sequoya became
interested in a group of the Cherokee people who were living in Mexico and, in 1842,
undertook a trip from his home in the Cherokee Nation to Mexico, in order to urge them to
return to the Fast. It is thought he was about eighty years old at the time, and he died
in Mexico in August 1843. Members of the Cherokee tribe went to Mexico to verify the fact
and report that Sequoya was buried in the vicinity of San Fernando, Mexico.
