Cherokee Syllabary

Sequoyah’s single-handed invention that took the Cherokee Nation to mass literacy within a few years.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Sequoyah, who could not read any language, completed his syllabary of over eighty characters around 1821.
• Cherokee literacy spread so fast that a national newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, launched in 1828.
• It is one of history’s only writing systems invented from scratch by a named individual.

Specifications & Metrics

• TYPE: Syllabary