Sequoyah: The Cherokee Who Captured Words

by Lillie Patterson

A biography of the Cherokee Indian who did what white scholars said could not be done when he invented a syllabary for writing the Cherokee language.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Lillian G. Patterson

Obituary

Lillie Patterson was a public school teacher and administrator whose love of writing and keen storytelling skills led her to write 16 books geared toward children. A West Baltimore resident for more than 50 years, Ms. Patterson, 82, wrote mostly biographies, historical accounts and books of poetry. Her topics included the lives of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. She also wrote several works of fiction. Most of her works were aimed at youngsters ages 7 to 12. Her fictional characters were vivid, and the stories had morals.

For her work, she received the Living Maker of Negro History Award in 1963 from the Iota Phi Lambda sorority, the Professional Award from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs in Baltimore, and the Helen Keating Award in 1985 from the national Church and Synagogue Library Association.

Reviews

[Pres Harris]

A very nice, historical and eye opening book.

[Audrey Saltarelli]

A classic white retelling of important history

[Hannah]

In the early 1800s, Sequoyah, a Cherokee Indian, dreamed of creating a way to write the Cherokee language and to that end worked for hours in a little hut. But, for his daughter Ayokeh, vainly defending her father's reputation to the other village children, life was not so easy. She joins Sequoyah's work, and this is the story of their facing great odds to give the Cherokee nation a written language.

This is a delightful, interesting story with good morals. It is true that Sequoyah taught the written Cherokee language to his daughter, whose name was Ayokeh, and that she helped him demonstrate the language's usefulness.

I enjoyed it as a children's book about an important, though little known, Indian.

[Christian]

Sequoyah was the first to make a written language for the Cherokee Indians. It had 86 letters!

[Taylor Pettie]

I enjoyed this biography on the Cherokee. I really found it interesting how it even has the Cherokee alphabet inside of it with the symbols. It was a great informative read.