Sequoyah

The silversmith who single-handedly created a writing system for the Cherokee.

Life

Silversmith

Sequoyah was a Cherokee who made his living as a silversmith and could not himself read or write. Seeing that white people could pass on messages with "talking leaves," he resolved to create a script for the Cherokee language.

Talking leaves

After twelve years of work he produced a syllabary of more than eighty symbols, each representing a syllable. In 1821 the Cherokee council formally adopted it. The script was simple and easy to learn, and within a few years most Cherokee could read and write. In 1828 the first Cherokee-language newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, was founded.

Syllabary

He later moved west to Arkansas and Oklahoma, and died in 1843 in Mexico while searching for Cherokee who had migrated there.

Legacy

Sequoyah is one of the very few people in history to have single-handedly created a writing system for his own people. California's giant redwoods (the genus Sequoia) are said to be named after him.

Did you know? While he was creating the script, his neighbors at one point thought he was bewitched and burned his manuscripts.

Key dates

• 1809Began creating a writing system (approx.)
• 1821Cherokee Council adopted his syllabary
• 1828Cherokee Phoenix founded
• 1843Died