Skip to content
Connect
Stories

How a Cherokee Leader Ensured His People’s Language Survived

People in this story

(Credit: Alamy)
Cherokee Indians are forced from their homelands during the 1830’s.

History, November 2022

Prior to colonization, more than 300 diverse languages were spoken by Native Americans in what is now called the United States. However, nearly all of these languages had one feature in common: they had no written form.

In 1809, a Cherokee man named Sequoyah began working on a writing system for his nation’s language. It was a monumental task, especially considering that he could not read or write in English or any other language. But 12 years later, he completed the Cherokee syllabary, an innovative writing system that is still used today.

Continue reading at History.com

More Stories

Picture of Dasani water bottles.

Gov. Healey to sign order banning single-use plastic bottles for state agencies

09.21.2023
Co-founder Andrew Song of solar geoengineering startup Make Sunsets holds a weather balloon filled with helium, air and sulfur dioxide at a park in Reno, Nevada, United States on February 12, 2023.

Some Politicians Want to Research Geoengineering as a Climate Solution. Scientists Are Worried

09.18.2023
Plastics and other trash littered a salt marsh in Chelsea in April.

Massachusetts lags on banning plastics

09.25.23
Op-eds