Other sources state that his father also could have been an unlicensed German peddler named George Gist, who came into the Cherokee Nation in 1768, where he married and fathered a child. Davis cites Emmet Starr's book, Early History of the Cherokees, as the source for saying that Sequoyah's father was a Virginian fur trader from Swabia named Nathaniel Guyst, Guist, or Gist. Sources differ as to the true identity of Sequoyah's father. Due to native customs, Sequoyah learned everything from his mother like the Cherokee language and his first job of a tradesman. John Watts (also known as Young Tassel) was a nephew of the two chiefs, so it is likely that Wut-teh and John Watts were related in some fashion. Historians believe her to be related to the chiefs who have been identified as the brothers Old Tassel and Doublehead. His mother, Wut-teh, is debated to be either the daughter, sister, or niece of a Cherokee chief. According to a descendent of his, he was born with the name 'Gi sqwa ya' which means 'there's a bird inside.' After repeatedly failing to complete his farm duties, his name was changed to Sequoyah which means 'there's a pig inside.' This is a reference either to his childhood deformity or to a later injury that left Sequoyah disabled. However, Davis says the name may have been derived from sikwa (either a hog or an opossum) and vi meaning a place or an enclosure. His name is believed to come from the Cherokee word siqua meaning ' hog'. In the people's matrilineal kinship system, children were considered born into their mother's family and clan, and her male relatives were most important to their upbringing. James Mooney, a prominent anthropologist and historian of the Cherokee people, quoted a cousin as saying that as a little boy, Sequoyah spent his early years with his mother. Sequoyah was born in the Cherokee town of Tuskegee, Tennessee, around 1778. Some anecdotes were passed down orally, but these often conflict or are vague about specific times and places. Davis, there were few primary documents describing facts of Sequoyah's life. Sequoyah's important status has led to several competing accounts of his life that are speculative, contradictory, or fabricated. Early life Īn 18th-century map of Toskegee and the contemporary location of Monroe County in Tennessee As diffusion spread, it is believed to have inspired the development of 21 known scripts or writing systems, used in a total of 65 languages in North America, Africa, and Asia. The Cherokee syllabary has had international influence. By the 1850s, their literacy rate reached almost 100%, surpassing that of surrounding European-American settlers. It unified a forcibly divided nation with new ways of communication and a sense of independence. Īfter seeing its worth, the people of the Cherokee Nation rapidly began to use his syllabary and officially adopted it in 1825. to sign two relocations and trading of land treaties. Sequoyah was also an important representative for the Cherokee nation, by going to Washington, D.C. His creation of the syllabary allowed the Cherokee nation to be one of the first North American Indigenous groups to have a written language. His achievement was one of the few times in recorded history that an individual who was a member of a pre-literate group created an original, effective writing system. In 1821, he completed his independent creation of the Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible. 1770 – August 1843), also known as George Gist or George Guess, was a Native American polymath and neographer of the Cherokee Nation. Sequoyah ( Cherokee: ᏍᏏᏉᏯ, Ssiquoya, or ᏎᏉᏯ, Se-quo-ya IPA:, c. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Cherokee syllabics. This article contains Cherokee syllabic characters.
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