Seqouyah
Sequoyah
Sequoyah, nicknamed George Gist, was the
writer of the Cherokee alphabet. He was born into a world where no
one could read or write. He made a difference. When Sequoyah
was born there was no written Cherokee language. He made the symbols
that changed the Cherokee world. If you think he sounds interesting
I encourage you to read on about Sequoyah and his alphabet.
Parents
Sequoyah's mother and father played a
big role in his dream. His mother was said to have only been part
Cherokee. His father was a white man, perhaps explaining reasons
why he fought on the white man's side in one war against the British and
Creek Indians. The mix of Cherokee and white must have given him
an edge because he fought for his dream, even if it meant losing friends.
Making A Language
Sequoyah seemed to be mistaken when he
began making symbols. In fact, he made symbols three times before
getting it right. At first, he tried making symbols to represent
simple words. Those pictures were burnt in a fire. Later on,
Seqouyah built up a new stack of symbols representing words. Then
he realized that he couldn't show pictures of all words. For example,
Sequoyah could show a word for bird but he couldn't show which bird.
Finally, Seqouyah realized that the symbols should show sounds instead
of words. Since Sequoyah spoke no English, he did not understand
that no one person had ever made a language before. He did not know
that most alphabets take hundreds of thousands of years to make.
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The Lame One
Sequoyah was born with a limp leg.
For this reason he was nicknamed "The Lame One." Not only was he
teased, but throughout his life his friends criticized his dream.
To them he was never going to reach his goal. This may have been
the reason it took him twelve years and he made two mistakes. His
friends wouldn't help him. Perhaps, Seqouyah had friends that were
illusions, not really his friends.
Birth Through Death
Sequoyah was born in 1775. He spent
half of his life living in the same spot, Loudon County, Tennessee.
Sequoyah died in 1838, 63 years later. Between these two times Sequoyah
moved around. In 1828 Sequoyah moved to Oklahoma. Then, in
1838 Sequoyah tried to settle some disagreements. These disagreements
are said to have led to his death. He was searching for lost Indians
in Mexico. Who could have captured the Indians... the settlers.
Alphabet Information
So, you've got the idea that Sequoyah
wrote an alphabet. You know he lived in Tennessee and when he died.
What else is there to learn about him? How about his alphabet...?
In 1809 Seqouyah began writing the
alphabet and in 1821 he finished. There are 86 symbols in total.
Some symbols were similar to English and Greek symbols. Others he
made up. Sequoyah made his language because knowledge was lost.
No one in their tribe could read or write their language
Bibliography
Gleiter, Jan and Kathleen Thompson. Seqouyah. Milwaukee:
Raintree.
Moulton, Gary E. "Sequoyah." The World Book Encyclopedia.
1999
