Sequoyah: The Life and Legacy of the Most Famous Cherokee

by Jesse Harasta, Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures*Explains how the syllabary works and its influences*Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents Tragically, the Cherokee is one of America’s best known tribes due to the trials and tribulations they suffered by being forcibly moved west along the “Trail of Tears”, but that overlooks the contributions they made to American society well before the 19th century. The Cherokee began the process of assimilation into European America very early, even before the establishment of the Unites States, and by the early 19th century they were one of the “Five Civilized Tribes.” Despite all of the hostilities and the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee ultimately became the first people of non-European descent to become U.S. citizens en masse, and today the Cherokee Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United States, boasting over 300,000 members. The Cherokee might be the most famous tribe in the country, and if so, the person most responsible for it is Sequoyah, whose invention of the Cherokee syllabary also played a prominent role in facilitating the assimilation between the Cherokee and Americans. Sequoyah began work on devising the writing and reading system around 1809, and it was instantly popular among the Cherokee, to the extent that it was being used in written publications among the tribe by the 1820s. The syllabary has been in use ever since, both within the tribe and among outsiders. Thanks to his accomplishments, Sequoyah was celebrated in his own lifetime, but due to his obscure roots, accounts of his early years still vary dramatically. The Life and Legacy of the Most Famous Cherokee looks at the life and work of the man who put the Cherokee language down in print and made it possible for outsiders to both read and write it. This includes analyzing the nature of his invention, the social context in which he lived, and the ongoing legacy he has left for the modern Cherokee. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Sequoyah like never before, in no time at all.

Genres: Biography

67 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 29, 2014

Reviews

[Alexander Labinsky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Judging by the depth and the cited sources clearly a work cobbled together quickly by a hack with the backgrounf of a amateur history buff. According to the bibliography, the author is at least aware of some classics of Cherokee scholarship but certainly not up to date with the scholarship available when the booklet came out. This leads to significant problems with the text, which probably is eye-opening to anybody who never contemplated American Indian history as the history of people with agency but will mislead the readers in other ways. As an example, the author's musing about the shapes of the signs of Sequoyah's syllabary show an inquisitive mind but would have been helped by knowledge of the work on the design of the syllabary by Ellen Cushman or Willard Walker.

Probably the worst effect of this is the narrowing down to "the" Cherokee people, alluding to a homogenous Cherokee Nation in the early 19th century. This is patently wrong, as the Cherokee history at this time is full of interesting characters and varying factions who allied and collided over the question how to deal with a rapid cultural transformation while simultaneously trying to figure out how to keep independence while facing a wave of American settlers that were outnumbering them by the power of 100. By not being aware of this complex political landscape, Harasta is not empowering but actually downsizing the agency of the Cherokee people of that time, who were not simply proud people unable to stop an onslaught but actively trying to steer their fate, albeit unsuccesful.

Therefore, I would recommend other texts like April Summit's "Sequoyah and the invention of the Cherokee alphabet" as an accessible and easy-to-read introductory text to Sequoyah and early 19th century Cherokee history. Two out of five stars for at least not being revisionist garbage.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before reading this, I wasn't aware that the Cherokee originally lived in the Great Lakes region and moved to the southeastern part of America about 6000 years ago. Originally, the Cherokee language was part of the Iroquoian language family. After the Cherokees moved south, it changed significantly. "Glottochronology" was a new word I learned; it is a way of tracking linguistic changes in related languages over time. It is a way of finding out how long people sharing a root language have been separated.

Although the Cherokee created a similar life to the white men who lived near them, including printing presses, villages, plantations with slaves, laws, etc., the US government still made the Cherokee move to Oklahoma. This is the group that endured the "Trail of Tears."

I was shocked to learn that as late as the 1950s, American Indians were being sent to boarding schools to become assimilated. The net result was that the Cherokee went from being 75% bilingual (Cherokee and English-speaking) to 5% bilingual in a single generation.

The good news is that Sequoyah was honored in his lifetime; after analysis, it was determined that Cherokee was uniquely suited to a syllabary (versus an alphabet). The author takes some time explaining the difference between the two. The Sequoia trees of California are named after this celebrated Indian. It is often mentioned that Sequoyah was the only illiterate person who still managed to create a writing system for his native tongue. Then the author brings up another man who created a written language, which I thought unnecessary to mention (this story was about the significant accomplishment of an important Indian).