What is the Cherokee Syllabary?
An alphabet made up of sets of syllables rather than letters. Sequoya, a Cherokee chief, created the Cherokee Syllabary in 1821. Sequoya got the idea to create this syllabary after he saw the new settlers had papers with writing on them. The papers rustled like leaves and “talked” to people through written language. Sequoya called them “talking leaves” and thought the Cherokee must have talking leaves, too. For twelve years, Sequoya and his daughter, Ahyoka, worked on the syllabary. They made a symbol for each Cherokee sound. The Cherokee Syllabary has eighty-five characters. Once a person learned the characters, they could write anything in the Cherokee language. Many Cherokee learned to read and write in only a few days. Did you know Sequoya and Ahyoka were the first people to create a written language all by themselves? Did you know the sequoia tree is named in Sequoya’s honor? Top of Page b. Where do the Cherokee live today? There are over 186,000 Cherokee living today. This is the
