Sequoyah 1770-1883
Cherokee Scholar
Sequoyah (sih KWOY uh) was a Cherokee Indian who lived in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. He is remembered today as the first person in history to invent a written language by himself. Sequoyah had always been interested in “talking leaves,” which is what he called the pages of books. He believed books and written words were good ways to learn and give information. Before Sequoyah's invention, however, there were no written words for the Cherokee language.
Sequoyah took some letters from an English spelling book and changed the symbols to match the sounds he heard when Cherokees spoke. By 1821, he had finished 86 letters.
Soon, people were reading and writing in their own language, using the new symbols Sequoyah had created. In 1828, the first issue of The Cherokee Phoenix was printed. It was printed in both Cherokee and English and was the first American Indian newspaper published in the United States.
Critical Thinking
What did the Cherokee nation do with Sequoyah's written language?