The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1911-06-30
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Review Of the Life of Dr. Cherokee Country

? that while the work of the earlier mis-
sionaries had been productive of good
result, there was yet great work to
be done. The field of action was wide
, The tasks to be done were many and
laborious. But before leaving the cul-
ture and comfort of his quiet New
England home he had counted all
costs. He entered upon the work
with the determination and zeal which
placed him at the head of the mission
aries to the Indians. There was no
{ obstacle too formidable to turn him
from the performance of his duty. In
. order to be better able to reach the
fullblood Indians he took up the study
of their language. He was convinced
that the Cherokee alphabet, the recent
invention of Seyuoyah was destined
to be an important means of obtaining
access TO the Indian understanding
and thus disseminating among them
the great truths he had come to pro-
claim"
Seyuoyah, a Cherokee, lame and
frail of body. could read no language,
but the knowledge that the white men
could place their thoughts upon paper
caused him to ponder deeply. If they
could do so, why could not the Chero-
KEGS. He believed they could. There
fore he set himself to work. For
twelve years he persisted. He had to
endure many things. His people
taunted him. They called him 'the
crazy fellow" But he succeeded. He,
the unlettered Cherokee, had become
the cadmus of the new world. The
aphabet or syllabary of eighty-six char
acters, proved practicable in every re-
spect. The Cherokee Phoenix" a pa
per established by the Cherokee Ma
tion, was issued at the capital, New
Echota, in 1928 One-half of this pa
per was printed in English and one
half in Cherokee. 500 nthe mission
aries We're to make use of the Cherokee
characters in the printing of the bible
and other religious literature for the
use of the Indians.
OF the aboriginal languages of Amer
lea the Cherokee is perhaps the most
difficult Of mastery. Comparatively
few are the white men who have be-
come proficient in its use. The Rev.
Mr.. Worcester, however, was not to be
discouraged He took up the study of
the language and in a few years was
able to use it with facility in speaking.
reading and writing. But having ac-
quired the language he found that it
was impossible to translate many of
the passages of Scripture from the
English into the Cherokee and retain
the original meaning. This discovery
decided him to give the Cherokees the
Bible in their own language The
board being made acquainted with this
decision had cast in Boston a number
of fonts of type in the Cherokee char
aeters. A printing press with all nee
essary materials was procured and
sent to the distant Indian nation,
where, in the course of some months,
the translating and printing of por-
tions of the Old and New Testaments
was under way. The entire transla-
tion was not made east of the Mis-
sissippi, but was completed at Park
Hill at a later time.
The Cherokee Hymn Book" was
also issued from the Mission press.
This book contained a number of fa-
miliar songs, including among them no
doubt, being the First Cherokee
Hymn that is the first original Cher
okee musical composition of a sacred
character. It was the composition of
one of the young Cherokee girls who
was pupil at one of the Mission
schools. She, as related by the Rev.
Mr.. Chambe9lin, who was in charge
of the school had wonderful dream
or vision in which she heard sung the
words of the hymn. These words she
recalled upon awaking and they were
committed to writing This song, of
origin, beyond human comprehension.
was often sung by the old-time Chero-
KEGS in their religious meetings. Yet
another publication was the unique
Cherokee Almanac" which years ago
was to be found in many Cherokee
homes.
While the taskof making the Chero-
kee Bible and hymn book was engag-
ing much of his attention the Mission
school under the immediate supervision
of Mr., Worcester was doing splendid
work. Its pupils were numerous and
filled with interest in their studies.
And there were other flourishing
schools. At old Brainerd. at Carmel
HightoweT~ Hawais, New Echota.
Ahmohee, Willstown and several other
places many Cherokee children were