Content Notes:
I. Brief History of Sequoyah:
a. Sequoyah was born in 1776.
b. Mother was the daughter of a Cherokee Chief, Sequoyah married a Cherokee woman.
c. Father was a Virginia fur trader.
d. Was a silversmith by trade.
e. Never learned the English alphabet, yet was intrigued by language.
f. Sequoyah and other Cherokees enlisted to fight for the United States during the French and Indian war. It was during this time where Sequoyah was influenced by white soldiers who were able to write letters and read print.
g. Began to create a writing system following the French and Indian war. He was unable to write home to loved ones.
II. Cherokee Language:
a. Sequoyah began to create the language following the war.
b. Sequoyah took thousands of Cherokee thoughts and expressions and condensed them to 85 symbols, which could be used to represent words.
c. Sequoyah was inspired to write the language to keep their culture, and preserve it from their white peers.
d. He taught his daughter how to use the symbols using a game the two played.
e. After 12 years, he finished creating the language. Sequoyah and Sequoyah’s daughter introduced the language to the Cherokee people, and the Cherokee people adopted the language.
f. Within a few years, the Cherokee people adopted this language, and became literate.
g. In years following, Sequoyah traveled out west to teach the language to Cherokees who had moved.
III. Cherokee Phoenix:
a. Just three years after introducing the language to the Cherokee people, the Cherokee people began printing their own newspaper called The Cherokee Phoenix.
I. Brief History of Sequoyah:
a. Sequoyah was born in 1776.
b. Mother was the daughter of a Cherokee Chief, Sequoyah married a Cherokee woman.
c. Father was a Virginia fur trader.
d. Was a silversmith by trade.
e. Never learned the English alphabet, yet was intrigued by language.
f. Sequoyah and other Cherokees enlisted to fight for the United States during the French and Indian war. It was during this time where Sequoyah was influenced by white soldiers who were able to write letters and read print.
g. Began to create a writing system following the French and Indian war. He was unable to write home to loved ones.
II. Cherokee Language:
a. Sequoyah began to create the language following the war.
b. Sequoyah took thousands of Cherokee thoughts and expressions and condensed them to 85 symbols, which could be used to represent words.
c. Sequoyah was inspired to write the language to keep their culture, and preserve it from their white peers.
d. He taught his daughter how to use the symbols using a game the two played.
e. After 12 years, he finished creating the language. Sequoyah and Sequoyah’s daughter introduced the language to the Cherokee people, and the Cherokee people adopted the language.
f. Within a few years, the Cherokee people adopted this language, and became literate.
g. In years following, Sequoyah traveled out west to teach the language to Cherokees who had moved.
III. Cherokee Phoenix:
a. Just three years after introducing the language to the Cherokee people, the Cherokee people began printing their own newspaper called The Cherokee Phoenix.