Studying and Writing Are Magical: Sequoyah’s Syllabary

That is not just a slogan to inspire your students to determine-although it can’t hurt! It is also more true than we might realize or remember.

Once I’ll be a young child, 3 or 4 years of age, I’d watch adults studying-my father studying one, my grandfather a paper, my great-grandmother the Bible. I understood these were associated with something amazing, even magical. All pages were speaking on their own account. I preferred to understand that magic. I imagined that vulnerable to school eventually may be like studying wizardry-although Hogwarts wasn’t founded yet. I really could not wait. Possibly you’ve similar remembrances.

Imagine of the culture by which studying and writing don’t exist. Others arrive from outdoors, toting books and newspapers, sticking their noses into them, apparently drawing details, ideas, tales, even songs from their site. Exactlty what can you believe?

It is precisely what went lower within the Cherokee capital of scotland- Willstown, Alabama, noisy . 1800s. Cherokee Indians were mystified by white-colored-colored-colored people’s newspapers-their “speaking leaves.” It needed a Cherokee silversmith named Sequoyah to solve their mystery. Although Sequoyah could neither read nor write, he performed their particular magic, developing a system of writing for the Cherokee language. When the Cherokee found appreciate Sequoyah’s syllabary (a type of alphabet devised from syllables), literacy ran rampant incorporated in this particular. Cherokee authored letters to each other everywhere and founded the first Native-American newspaper.

Throughout history, couple of other area of the non-literate culture has accomplished this sort of task. Sequoyah’s genius went beyond amazing. But his achievement was hard-won. Medicine men of their very own community nearly put him to dying for suspected witchcraft. And white-colored-colored-colored missionaries, prone to convert the Cherokee for that British language furthermore to Christianity, were not pleased that Sequoyah had given his individuals have to preserve their unique language with lately found pride.

The next scene is between Sequoyah as well as the daughter, Ayoka. Although even Sequoyah’s wife, Sally, frowns upon Sequoyah’s pursuit of “speaking leaves,” Ayoka gives him numerous help. Historians 1, 2, and three work as play’s narrators. You will observe a brief video of my very own, personal daughter and me studying this scene within my website.