Sequoyah (ᏍᏏᏉᏱ S-si-quo-ya[1] in Cherokee) (circa 1767 - 1843), known as George Guess, Guest or Gist, was a Cherokee silversmith who invented the Cherokee syllabary. Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩ Tsalagi) is an Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee people which uses a unique syllabary writing system Year 1767 ( MDCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1843 ( MDCCCXLIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common The Cherokee (ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯ a-ni-yv-wi-ya, in the Cherokee language) are a people native to North America, who at the time of European contact The Cherokee language is written in a Syllabary invented by Sequoyah (also known as George Gist or George Guess in 1819
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Birth and early life
The exact place and date of Sequoyah's birth are unknown, since no written record exists. James Mooney, a prominent anthropologist and historian of the Cherokee people, quoted a cousin in saying that as a little boy Sequoyah spent his early years with his mother in the village of Tuskegee, Tennessee. James Mooney (1861-1921 was an American Anthropologist who lived for several years among the Cherokee. Tuskegee was an Overhill Cherokee village originally on the bank of the Tennessee River at the mouth of the Tellico River
The names Sequoyah or Sequoia are both spellings given by missionaries, said to be as corruptions of the Cherokee name Sogwali or Sikwâ'yǐ which is believed to be derived from the Cherokee word siqua meaning 'hog'. Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times This is either a reference to a childhood deformity or a later injury that left Sequoyah disabled (London, 193). Of his mother, Wut-teh, it is known that she was a Cherokee and belonged to the Paint Clan. Mooney states that she was the niece of a Cherokee chief. A traditional tribal chief is the leader of a Tribe, or the head of a tribal form of self-government His father was either white or part-white and part Native American. White People is the second album by Handsome Boy Modeling School. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States Sources differ as to the exact identity of Sequoyah's father, but many (including Mooney) suggest that he was possibly a fur trader or the son of Christopher Gist or Nathaniel Gist, a scout for George Washington. The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal Fur. Christopher Gist (1706 &ndash 1759 was one of the first white explorers of the Ohio Country in what would become the United States, credited for providing Reconnaissance (also scouting) is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the
The fact that Sequoyah did not speak English may be an indication that he and his mother were abandoned by his father. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States At some point before 1809, Sequoyah moved to the Willstown of Alabama. Year 1809 ( MDCCCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Willstown was an important village in the southernmost part of the Cherokee Nation prior to the Indian removal of 1836. There he established his trade as a silversmith. He may have fought in the Creek War between 1813 and 1814 against the Red Sticks. The Creek War (1813&ndash1814 also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, began as a Civil war within the Creek (Muscogee Year 1813 ( MDCCCXIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1814 ( MDCCCXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Red Sticks is the English term for a traditionalist faction of Creek Indians who led a resistance movement which culminated in the outbreak of the Creek War in 1813 If he in fact was disabled, it is highly unlikely that he would have fought, but his disability could have even been a result of the battle itself.
"Talking Leaves" and a syllabary
As a silversmith, Sequoyah dealt regularly with whites who had settled in the area. A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there often to colonize the area Often, the Native Americans were impressed by their writing, referring to their correspondence as "talking leaves". Around 1809, Sequoyah began work to create a system of writing for the Cherokee language. Year 1809 ( MDCCCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year From 1828 to 1834 the language was used in the Cherokee Phoenix which represented the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Phoenix was the first newspaper published by Native Americans in the United States from New Echota. The Cherokee (ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯ a-ni-yv-wi-ya, in the Cherokee language) are a people native to North America, who at the time of European contact
After attempting to create a character for each word, Sequoyah decided to divide each word into syllables and create one character for each syllable. An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek idea "idea" + grafo "to write" is a Graphic symbol that represents an Idea A syllable ( Greek:) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds Utilizing the Roman alphabet and quite possibly the Cyrillic alphabet, he created 86 characters to represent the various syllables. The Cyrillic alphabet (səˈrɪlɪk also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters is actually a family of Alphabets, subsets of which are used by In Typography, a grapheme is the fundamental unit in written language. This work took Sequoyah 12 years to complete.
There was some doubt amongst his fellow Cherokee as to the worthiness of his syllabary. In order to prove his creation, Sequoyah taught his daughter Ah-yo-ka how to read and write in Cherokee. After amazing locals with his new writing, Sequoyah attempted to display his feat to tribal medicine men only to be rebuffed by them for being possessed by evil spirits. " Medicine man " is an English term used to describe Native American spiritual figures such individuals are often viewed by scholars concerned with these Spirit possession is a concept of Paranormal, Supernatural and/or Superstitious belief in which spirits, gods, daemons The English word " spirit " comes from the Latin " spiritus " (breath Sequoyah finally proved his feat to a gathering of Chickamaugan warriors. The Chickamauga wars (1776&ndash1794 were a series of back-and-forth raids campaigns ambushes minor skirmishes and several full-scale frontier battles that were a continuation of According to the Random House Dictionary, the term warrior has two meanings Quickly news of the syllabary spread and the Cherokee were filling schools in order to learn the new written language. A school (from Greek σχολεῖον - scholeion) is an Institution designed to allow and encourage Students (or "pupils" By 1823 the syllabary was in full use by the Cherokee Nation. Year 1823 ( MDCCCXXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common The writing system was made official by the Cherokee Nation in 1825. Year 1825 ( MDCCCXXV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common It is still used today by many Cherokee speakers, more in Oklahoma than in North Carolina (Bender 2002). It is used primarily in Christian worship and study, centered around reading the Scripture in Cherokee, but also by some for traditional medicine.
Life in Arkansas and further west
After the acceptance of his syllabary by the nation in 1825, Sequoyah walked to the new Cherokee territory in Arkansas. Arkansas ( is a state located in the southern region of the United States. There he set up a blacksmith shop and a salt works. blacksmith is a person who creates objects from Iron or Steel by Forging the Metal; i He continued to teach the syllabary to anyone who came to him. In 1828, Sequoyah journeyed to Washington, D.C. as part of a delegation to negotiate a treaty for land in Oklahoma. The year 1828 ( MDCCCXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Delegation (also called deputation) is the assignment of authority and responsibility to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate to carry out specific activities Oklahoma ( is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America.
His trip brought him into contact with representatives of other Native American tribes from around the nation. With these meetings he decided to create a syllabary for universal use among all Native American tribes. With this in mind, Sequoyah began to journey to areas of present day Arizona and New Mexico seeking tribes there. The State of Arizona ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America.
In addition, Sequoyah dreamed of seeing the splintered Cherokee Nation reunited. It was on a trip seeking Cherokees who had moved to Mexico that he died between 1843 and 1845. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America.
Sequoyah's Cabin, a frontier cabin that he lived in during 1829-1844, is located in Oklahoma. Sequoyah's Cabin was a home during 1829-1844 of Sequoyah, or George Gist who created a written language for the Cherokee nation It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the
Sequoyah's namesakes
- The name of the district where Sequoyah had lived in Oklahoma was changed to Sequoyah District in 1851. 1851 ( MDCCCLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year When Oklahoma was admitted to the union, that area became known as Sequoyah County. Sequoyah County may refer to more than one place in the United States, generally named after Cherokee leader Sequoyah.
- The Sequoia tree is generally thought to be named after him (see, for instance, the OED). Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living Species of the Genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English Some botanists have challenged this claim.
- The proposed State of Sequoyah was named in his honor. The State of Sequoyah was the proposed name for what proved to be an abortive attempt by Native Americans in the early years of the 20th century to establish a U
- Sequoyah High School (Oklahoma) is a Native American Boarding School named after the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary. Sequoyah High School is a Native American Boarding school serving students in grades 7-12 who are members of a federally recognized Native American tribe
- Sequoyah Research Center is a research center dedicated to collecting and archiving Native American thought and literature. The Seqouyah Research Center (SRC is home of the American Native Press Archives (ANPA
- Mount Sequoyah in the Great Smoky Mountains was named in honor of Sequoyah. Mount Sequoyah is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States The Great Smoky Mountains are a major Mountain range in the southern part of the Appalachian Mountains, the second ridge line forming a north-south running mountain It is among the most remote mountains in the range.
- The Sequoyah Hills neighborhood of Knoxville, Tennessee, bears his name. Sequoyah Hills Tennessee, is a Neighborhood in the city of Knoxville, Tennessee.
- The Tennessee Valley Authority Sequoyah Nuclear Generating Station bears his name. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA is a federally owned Corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide The Sequoyah Nuclear power plant is located on 525 acres (21 km²located 7 miles east of Soddy-Daisy Tennessee, and 20 miles north of Chattanooga abutting
- The Sequoyah Marina on Norris Lake which is impounded by Norris Dam, the first hydro-electric dam in Tennessee built by the Tennessee Valley Authority, was named in honor of Sequoyah. Norris Dam is a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA Hydroelectric and Flood control structure located on the Clinch River in East Tennessee The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA is a federally owned Corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide
References
- ^ Holmes, Ruth Bradley, and Smith, Betty Sharp. 1976. ᏔᎵᏍᎪ ᎦᎵᏉᎩ ᏗᏕᎵᏆᏍᏙᏗ ᏣᎳᎩ ᏗᎪᏪᎵ / Beginning Cherokee. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 291.
Bender, Margaret. 2002. Signs of Cherokee Culture: Sequoyah's Syllabary in Eastern Cherokee Life. Chapel Hill:University of North Carolina Press.
External links
- Invention of the Cherokee Alphabet published in the Cherokee Phoenix
- The Life and Work of Sequoyah; Chronicles of Oklahoma
- Sequoyah (New Georgia Encyclopedia)
- The Father of Sequoyah: Nathaniel Gist; Chronicles of Oklahoma
- Sequoyah from Tiro Typeworks
- Sequoyah (aka George Gist), a North Georgia Notable
- The Cherokee Nation
- The Official Cherokee Font
Dictionary
Sequoyah
-proper noun
- Inventor of the syllabary for writing the Cherokee language, also known as George Guess.
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