Now I know my ABC’s

  In the early 1800’s, an illiterate, uneducated man, named Sequoyah, realized that his people would benefit from having a writing system using the Cherokee language, rather than his people being forced to learn the English language, as they had in the past.  He labored for years, finally creating a Cherokee syllabary.  

  For the first time in history an American Indian tribe had it’s own syllabary, and over the course of a just a few years almost all of the Cherokee people became literate. The Cherokee people could now draw up contracts, draft constitutions, and write to loved ones in their own language.

  Why was Sequoyah the one to create the language? How did he do it with very little education and not being literate in any language? How did the Cherokee people become literate so fast?

  These are just a few of the questions that will be answered by this research paper. 

Primary Sources

1.) Foster, George E. Sequoyah; The American Cadmus and Modern Moses. Milford, New Hampshire, Foster, George E., 1885.

    This was a primary source, because the stories relayed to George Foster, were received from people who spoke directly with Sequoyah.

2.) Boudinoit, Elias. Cherokee Editor; The Writings of Elias Boudinot. Athens, Georgia, The University of Georgia Press, 1996.

    This was a primary source containing the writings of Elias Boudinot, a Cherokee Indian who knew Sequoyah.

3.) Wilkins, Thurman. Cherokee Tragedy; The Story of the Ridge Family and the Decimation of a People. New York, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1970.

    This was a primary source for me, because it is contains writings of people that were alive during the time of Sequoyah.

4.) Carter III, Samuel. Cherokee Sunset: A Nation Betrayed. Garden City, New York, DoubleDay & Company, 1976.

    This is a primary source, because much of the text in this book is quoted verbatim from the Cherokee Phoenix, the first Indian language newspaper.  

5.) Everett, Diana. The Texas Cherokees; A People Between Two Fires, 1819 - 1840. Norman, Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Press, 1990. 

   This text offered insight into the benefits of Cherokees being able to write letters into their own language. Sequoyah brought letters from Arkansas and Texas to prove the value of his writing system. 

6.) Clarke, Mary Whatley. Chief Bowles and the Texas Cherokees. Norman, Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Press, 1971.

    This text offered insight into the benefits of Cherokees being able to write letters into their own language. Sequoyah brought letters from Arkansas and Texas to prove the value of his writing system. 

7.) King, Duane. The Cherokee Trail of Tears. Portland, Oregon, Graphic Arts Books, 2007.

    This text provided information that was not available in other books. 

8.) Ehle, John. Trail of Tears; the Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. New York, New York, Archer Books, 1988.

    This book is an excellent resource. John Ehle included a lot of little details that were not available in the other texts.

9.) Bass, Althea. Cherokee Messenger. Norman, Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Press, 1936.

    This book is from the manuscript collection owned by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions housed at the Andover-Harvard Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  

10.) Jones, Billy M. & Faulk, Odie B. Cherokees; An Illustrated History. Muskogee, Oklahoma, The Five Civilized Tribes Museum, 1984.

    This book was useful, because it contains pictures of the actual alphabet, and Sequoyah’s cabin, which helped to get a mental picture of his creating the writing system. 

11.) Jahoda, Gloria. The Trail of Tears. New York, New York, Random House, 1975.

    This was the book in which I first came across Sequoyah.