The Opelousas courier., 1892-09-24

ai& no" II TT Us I'd ny IVA
nltterate Native American.
~ THNoLoGIsT PILLING, of the
II Bureau of Ethnology, said to a
y Washington Star reporter : CAS-
~ a work Of ingenuity the alpha.
bet of the English language is not in ii
with the Cherokee syllabary. The syl-
iabary I speak of was invented by a half.
breed Indian named Se-quo-yah. He
was entirely u~nedueated, not even know.
ing how to read any language. But he
had become acquainted with the princi-
pie of the alphabet-nsmely, that marks
can be made the symbols of sounds. Ae'
cordingly this untutored genius con-
ceiyed the notlcn that he could express
all the syllables in the Cherokee tongue
| BY distinct characters.
"He first went to work to collect IN
his memory all the syllable sounds IN the
Cherokee language which he was able to
recall. He found the number to be
/ eighty-six, and for each of these he de-
vised a peculiar mark. At the begin
ming he drew the marks in the sand and
and after he had them made to his salts
| faction he transferred them to paper.
For some of them he took the letters OF
our own alphabet. using various modi-
fcations of the Roman letters, together
with some characters of his own inven-
ton, for the rest.
"Each of these eighty-slx characters
stood for a certain syllable sound and the
entire eighty-six comprised all the sylla,
bles used in the Cherokee language. With
these symbols he set about writing let.
tiers, and by means of them a correspond
ence was soon actually maintained be-
tween Indians of his race in Wills valley
and their relatives beyond the Mississippi,
five hundred miles away, This was done
by individuals who could not speak Eng.
lish and who had never learned any ap'
phabet except this syllable one, which
Se-quo-yah had invented, taught to Others
and introduced into practice.
"The remarkable point about this
syllabary was the rapidity with which it
could be learned and utilized for writing
and reading. After the English alpha.
bet has been learned a considerable
period of schooling is required before
the most intelligent person can read or
write the language composed with 1t.
But, with the aid of this set OF Cherokee
symbols, the average Indian, without any
previous instruction in the written signs
of any language, a learn to read and
write in Cherokee fairly we'll within two
weeks and fuently within four weeks,
A more than ordinarily intelligent person
can learn to read and write with the
symbols in a weeks time.
'sAs o as S~e-que-yah had published
his ipsention interest in it rapidly spread,
until at length young Cherokees would
travel for great distances to obtain in
struction in this easy method of writing
and reading, Within a few days they
were able to begin writing letters, and
upon returning to their native villages
they taught others. At present the sylia'
barry is in general use among the Chero
KEGS, and there is no part of the Nation
where it is not understood. In no otheI
language Gu the art of reading De &C
ouired with nearly the same faculty
The first book printed in the character
was probably a collection of Cherokee
hymns, published in 1929; but previousl,
to that, in 1928. the first number OF tht
Cherokee Phoenix, a weekly newspaper
were issued at New Echota partly il
English and partly in the syllabary.
"This Cherokee alphabet is altogethe
syllable except for one letter. which
" to the English s, and is placed
between the syllables to give a missing
sound, There is not a consonant in thu
whole sixty-nine characters. In tn
Cherokee language there is not a soun'
f, i. D mol v. The tongue is cultural
and a person speaking Cherokee can tai
all day and not have occasion to clos
his lips, se,quo-yah's English name wa
George Guess. He was born in Georgi
in I770 of a Cherokee mother. / ar
creditablv informed that the father Q
the American Cadmus, as he has bee
called, was Colonel Nathaniel Gist, VIII
was with Washington at Braddock's de
feat and who was taken prisoner by th
Cherokees, among whom he remalne'
ave or six years.
"se.quo.yah is said to have had as
bow no liking for the rude sports Q
other Indian youths, preferring to strol
alone in the woods, where he employs
himself in building little houses WIT
sticks. His first attempts in the direc
ton of his invention were addressed .
devisine word signs. but he soon foun'
that this plan would require too man
characters. The syllabary was adopte'
bv the Cherokee Council in 1923, q siive
medal being awarded to the inventor 6
a token of admiration for his genius an
of gratitude for the service he ha
rendered to his people. The medal wa
made in Washington.
aFour years later the American Boar
of Foreign Missions betrayed the cost {
casting a iont of type of the characters
and from this time on publications
the syllabary began to multiply. a
present the literature of the Cheroke
language. composed with these sign
consists of scores of books and pampl
lets. including periodicals, almanac
.. school books. tracts, laws, the Cherokee
Constitution, the whole Of the Ne
Testament and most OF the Old. Thu
!. there came into use a new system of n
cording language, the invention of a
illiterate man, ignorant alike of book
and Of the various arts by which know
edge il disseminated-a practical sysste
devised bv a native American for q
pernetuation of a native American lar
guage.H