Sequoyah

Sequoyah, the son of a Cherokee woman and a fur trader from Virginia, was a warrior, a hunter, and a silversmith. For twelve years he worked to devise a method of writing for the Cherokee language. His syllabary of eighty-five symbols representing syllables was approved by the Cherokee chiefs in 1825. The straightforward system made possible a rapid spread of literacy throughout the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee also began to create written documents, including a constitution in 1827. The following year, the Cherokee Phoenix, a weekly bilingual newspaper, began publication in New Echota, Georgia.