We're Still Here: The Cherokee Syllabary

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We're Still Here: The Cherokee Syllabary

As early as 1809, Sequoyah (ca. 1775–1843) began working on a system for writing the Cherokee language. In 1825 the Cherokee Nation officially adopted Sequoyah's syllabary and quickly commissioned a written version of Cherokee law. By 1828 the Cherokee were publishing the first American Indian newspaper, with type set in Cherokee and English. In this short video, citizens of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation talk about the syllabary as a source of cultural knowledge and pride. The video was produced in 2004 by the National Museum of the American Indian and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation for "We're Still Here," a tribally curated section of the museum's opening exhibition "Our Peoples: Giving Voice to Our Histories."

1 min 34 sec

Native American Indian Museum Smithsonian "Indigenous Peoples" "Smithsonian Institution" "Smithsonian NMAI" "National Museum of the American Indian"