The Vinita weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1905, 1905-09-14
sEouOYAH
by nr. Emmss starr. The chsrohss
HistoriAn.


vas German trader from Georgia.
His mother vas q fpll blood Cherokee
Of the paint elan. She vas sister
Of Co.to-hee. or CofRtAssel, of ToQue
a slgner Of tho United states-Chero.
kee treaty Of November 2s. lIsS
sEQuoYAn FfRsr A BLACKSMITH.
'Sequoyah was born about l1l0.
His first wife vas Sallle og tie Bird
elan. lis second wife vas u-to-yu
Physically he aas below medium size,
slight aud sineWy His skin vas Of
lighter cast than ordinary, and his
eyes we're dark gray llo was slight
y lame from an attack whlteseell.
lng, from which he suffered "a child
hood, In dress DE clnng 70 the Gus
tom ol his people lie wore the tur-
ban, hunting shirt, legglns and moe
casins. He never acquired any knowl-
edge ot the English language. lie al
ways adhered to the religious beliefs
OF the ancient ChefokeeS aud his uuly
regret fof bis syIlabarY was that lt
was employed Ia the intoxicating d
the Christian religion sWoug his pcc-
pie. In early manhood he became
first a blacksmith, then d sisersmith
bur Ia both his usefulness was marred
By his love Of liquor.
A WRITTEN PAeE A '.rALKfSeLKAF. g
"The prevalent idea among the
Chefokees was that the written page
actually talked 20 the white man. tor
this reason tbey called Il the talking
leaf sequoyah, noticing the strange
cahalistie marks conceived the idea
that each one represented a word but
upon getting a book and counting The
different marks thereon he soon aw
that their number was Inadequate @
the expression q a lanKuage. la i>@
his medilafionIculmlnafed ln tho idea
that probably each mark meant q
sound
To test this be scratched With bis
knife on a stone g calling il va, AID
+ which be called ku This demon.
stfated TO him the pfotahIe feaslbili.
ty of bis ldea as by these two MARKS
and the SOUNDS he applied, he repre-.
sented the word va-ka, which Is the
Cherokee name 81 COW Al tie sane
time be scratched out three ether
figures 10 which he gave the seqaeut
sounds Of tsa, qal D, this being tie
Cherpke for horse In this Way he
satisfied himself Of The CORRECTNESS of
his idea.
WORKING eS HIS ALPHABET.
Theneefofwafd be continued 70
multiply, eradicate and change many
Of the characters be adopted from the
English boes. although be misludged
their use in the original. As he be.
came more absorbed IN his work. he
grew eorFespendinglY more obstemin.
ous III his use Of liquor lie announced
70 MS friends that he vas golnE 70
make the leaf talk To the Indian a.
vel As 70 the white man. This sas
q them iueredihle, as they had no
standard 20 judge By, and exposed
him to some rldlcule, bat rot enough
no keep him from being one of the
signers Of the treaty Of September. Il.
lslB only men Of considerable merit
were accorded this honor. asthey Were
regularly elected for this purpose
His manuscripts we're pieces q bark
At one time his wife, becoming dis.
gusted At hts apparently useless dron.
ery. consigned the entire Work Of
several years 10 the flames. On his
return he found his work DESTROYED
lie again SO 70 Wofk aud n q short
time produced q small bundle Of bark
manuscript which he assured his Wife
was identical with tie couple u arm
loads which she had destroyed This
helped 70 eonfrm her opinlen oi his
de mentla.
snQuoxAn's WUSDEaFuI FRAT
The syllabary vas finished II is2i
II uas the only alphabet IL the whole
world 70 b finished BY one man. aud
vas 70 complete that any one under.
standing the Cherokee language could
upon learning theeighty-slx characters
Of the sylla hary read aud write cor.
reetly Asa witness 70 It's perfection
mas BE- addnced the fact that no
change either bY addition Or ellmln.
alton has ever been found necessary
lie then established q school a. his
home, having for scholars aged grand
parents. their children ard grand.
children, grave missionaries. painted
warriors, white traders. cunning ned.
iclne men and half breeds.
TheY finished their education gen
orally n Fhree o. -four days. and sell
dom more than 3 week
THe flRsT cHnnokEn PRINTING.
The Chefokee tgpe was east Il
4iasInn afszI IL flsa llananlAe aafaf,a.