Sequoyah's Cherokee Syllabary

Sequoyah

A Cherokee silversmith, blacksmith, inventor, and linguist who independently devised the Cherokee syllabary, a written syllabic script for the Cherokee language. He completed the writing system around 1821, and the Cherokee Nation officially adopted it in 1825. Literacy in Cherokee spread rapidly through this script, which significantly impacted the cultural and political cohesion of the Cherokee Nation. He was also involved in the western migration of the Cherokee and the reunification of their divided factions.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Sequoyah
1778	Birth of Sequoyah (Period: c. 1770 (some sources state c. 1778, exact date unknown), Location: Tuskegee (Taskigi), around present-day Vonore, Tennessee (Monroe County / Tellico Lake region))
1809	Beginning of Research on the Cherokee Writing System (Age: 31 years old, Period: c. 1809 – early 1820s, Location: Cherokee inhabited areas centered near present-day Fort Payne, Alabama)
1813	Creek War (Age: 35 years old, Period: 1813–1814, Location: Southeastern United States, centered around Alabama)
1814	Participation in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (Age: 36 years old, Period: March 27, 1814, Location: Near Tallapoosa River, present-day Alabama)
1815	Marriage of Sequoyah and Sally Benge (Age: 37 years old, Period: 1815, Location: Some sources indicate Arkansas region, exact location unknown)
1817	Signing of Cession Treaties by the Cherokee (Age: 39 years old, Period: 1817, Location: Location of treaty signings between Cherokee and U.S. government)
1819	Loss of Ancestral Lands and Migration to Willstown (Sequoyah, Age: 41 years old, Period: c. 1819, Location: Near present-day Fort Payne, Alabama)
1820	Demonstration of the Syllabary by Daughter Ayyoka (Age: 42 years old, Period: Early 1820s, Location: Cherokee inhabited areas in Arkansas Territory)
1821	Completion of the Cherokee Syllabary (Age: 43 years old, Period: c. 1821, Location: Near present-day Fort Payne, Alabama)
1824	Award of Silver Medal by the Cherokee National Council (Age: 46 years old, Period: 1824, Location: Cherokee Nation)
1825	Official Adoption of the Cherokee Syllabary (Age: 47 years old, Period: 1825, Location: Cherokee Nation)
1826	Printing of the Cherokee Legal Code (Age: 48 years old, Period: 1826, Location: Cherokee Nation)
1828	First Issue of the Cherokee Phoenix (Age: 50 years old, Period: 1828, Location: Near present-day New Echota, Georgia)
1829	Sequoyah's Migration to Oklahoma and Construction of Sequoyah's Cabin (Age: 51 years old, Period: 1829, Location: Near present-day Sallisaw, Oklahoma)
1830	Involvement in Cherokee Western Migration and Tribal Unification (Age: 52 years old, Period: Late 1830s – 1839, Location: Indian Territory, centered in present-day Oklahoma)
1838	Participation in the Cherokee Unification Movement (Age: 60 years old, Period: 1838–1839, Location: Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma)
1842	Search for Cherokees Living in Mexico (Age: 64 years old, Period: 1842, Location: Indian Territory to Northern Mexico)
1843	Death of Sequoyah (Age: 65 years old, Period: c. August 1843)

Map

Category
Element

United States World

Group	List
The Randolph Family	Peyton Randolph John Randolph of Roanoke Edmund Jennings Randolph Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. John Randolph
The Harrison Family	Benjamin Harrison V Carter Henry Harrison I William Henry Harrison Carter Bassett Harrison Benjamin Harrison IV
Wars with Indigenous Peoples and Territorial Expansion	Andrew Jackson William Henry Harrison John Sevier Isaac Shelby Tecumseh William Weatherford Pushmataha Osceola Sequoyah
Texas annexation	James Knox Polk John Tyler Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott Samuel Houston Stephen Fuller Austin

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Sequoyah's Cherokee Syllabary

Sequoyah

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