|
The man
known as Sequoyah, memorialized throughout the world by trees,
buildings, vehicles, and other things named for him, is one of the
most famous persons in Keetoowah history.
Sequoyah, whose English name was George Guess, was born in what is
now Tennessee near Tasgigi. No one is sure of the year, but his
memoirs state that he was living with his mother as a small boy
when the Iroquoian Peace Delegation came to New Echota in 1770. He
was old enough at the time to remember the event.
Sequoyah had two borthers, Tobacco Will who was a blacksmith when
the Keetoowahs lived in Arkansas, and the Keetoowah Old Settler
Chief, “Dutch” (U-ge-we-le-dv).
Sequoyah is often shown with a cane, and it is known that he
suffered from a lameness, which was reported in the Cherokee
Advocate on June 26, 1845 as, “He was the victim of hydro
arthritic trouble of the knee joint, commonly called ‘white
swelling’ and this affliction caused a lameness that characterized
him during life.” This did not, however, stop him from achieving
one of the greatest accomplishment for the Keetoowah people, the
holding and passing on of the knowledge of how to write the
Cherokee language. Sam Houston was quoted as saying, “Your
invention of the alphabet is worth more to your people than two
bags full of gold in the hands of every Cherokee.”
In
1815, Sequoyah was married to Sally Waters of the Bird Clan. He
parents were Robert and Lydia Otterlifter and her brother was
Michael Waters, whose family later settled near the Nicut. Michael
served as his first student, and the first to read and write with
the invention was Sequoyah’s daughter, Ayoka.
Sequoyah and Ayoka were charged with ‘witchcraft and sorcery’ due
to the miracle of making leaves of paper to talk. A group of
warriors were brought in and Ayoka, being in a separate area,
communicated back and forth over the distance with her father,
until the warriors and others were convinced that the symbolism
represented ‘talking.’ After the trial ended, the warriors asked
Sequoyah to teach them, too. Before long, the knowledge of reading
and writing the Cherokee language had spread far and wide.
Baker
and Greele, a typecast company based in Boston , produced metal
type so that Rev. Worcester could obtain a printing press,
allowing the mission to translate and publish scripture and hymns
in the native language. The venture turned into a regular printing
business, producing newspapers, flyers and anything needed to be
printed. The type was not able to be produced exactly as Sequoyah
had drawn the characters, so many were developed from existing
letters and characters used in printing already.
The
syllabary was not completed until Sequoyah, along with other
Keetoowahs, had migrated to what is now Arkansas . In 1821, he
traveled to the Cherokee Nation back east, and presented the
syllabary to Cherokees living there. After returning home to the
Keetoowahs in 1822, he focused much of his time teaching the
Cherokee written language.
In
1824, the General Council of the Cherokee Nation voted to give
Sequoyah a large silver medal as an honor for his creation of the
syllabary. Because he did not return east, where the Cherokee
Nation was located, for many years, Chief Path Killer and John
Ross had it sent to him.
Sequoyah traveled with a group of Keetoowahs to Washington in
1828, and the group signed a treaty. One of the articles of the
treaty stipulated a benefit for Sequoyah: “It is further agreed
that the United States will pay five hundred dollars for the use
of George Guess, a Cherokee, for the great benefit he has
conferred upon the Cherokee people in the beneficial results they
are now experiencing from the use of the alphabet discovered by
him, to whom also in consideration of his relinquishing a valuable
saline, the privilege is hereby given to locate and occupy another
saline on Lee’s Creek." Lee’s Creek is located in present-day
Sequoyah County , Oklahoma . Sequoyah received only $300 of this
money, and it is clear that the benefit was included to obtain the
land.
Sequoyah and 2500 other Keetoowahs were moved to the Indian
Territory in what is now Oklahoma by the United States government
in 1828. The land was exchanged for the land they had been
occupying in what was later to become Arkansas . He settled near
present-day Sallisaw , Oklahoma , where he built a log cabin,
which is still standing and open to the public.
Sequoyah’s death came in 1845 while traveling with his son, Teesey,
a friend named The Worm, and six others who had left from Park
hill and were looking for a group of Cherokees that had migrated
to Mexico . After some time, a party of Caddos returned from
Mexico reported that Sequoyah had died.
"His
death was sudden, having been long confined to the house, he
requested one day some food, and while it was preparing, breathed
his last."
Sequoyah’s death was not reported Indian Territory for nearly two
years, when some Cherokees returned from Mexico and gave the
following statement to Cherokee agent Pierce M. Butler, "Warrens
trading house, Red River , April 21, 1845 . . . . We the
undersigned Cherokees direct from the Spanish dominions, do hereby
certify that George Guess, of the Cherokee Nation, Arkansas ,
departed this life in the town of San Fernando in the month of
August 1843. Given under our hands, day and date above, written
Standing Rock, by mark, Standing Bowles, by mark, Watch Justice,
by mark, witness Daniel C. Watson and Jesse Chisholm."
Another
report to agent P.M. Butler, Ou-No-Leh stated that he had met with
Teesey, The Worm, Gah-Ne-Nes-Kee, the Standing Man and the
Standing Rock.
"The
Standing Rock. . . attended Sequoyah during his last sickness and
also witnessed his death and burial." The statement was dated May
15, 1845 , Bayou District.
Because
of Sequoyah believing that it was time for the Keetoowah people to
receive the system of writing the Creator had allowed him to know,
we are able to read what our ancestors recorded and to communicate
with each other in our own language. Because Sequoyah also felt
the need to return to the Cherokee Nation and share the system
there, as well, all Cherokees became literate soon and were able
to communicate through great distances. It is believed the system
was what he was traveling to Mexico to share with the small group
of Cherokees there. |
On December 27, 1980, the United States
government issued a stamp to commemorate Sequoyah's life.
Back
|