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Sequoyah

Sequoyah

Biography


 California Standard 1.5.2 Understand the ways in which American Indians and immigrants have helped define Californian and American culture. 

Sequoyah was a great Cherokee Indian. He never learned to speak, write, or read English.

Sequoyah wanted to teach his people how to read and write, so he invented the Cherokee alphabet. He gave his people a way to talk to each other in writing.

This alphabet helped the Cherokee Nation to write a newspaper.

 

Try This

Read more about Sequoyah online.

Learn to say hello in the Cherokee language.

The Big Picture

Cherokee children play with each other, go to school and help around the house.

Many Cherokee children liked to go hunting and fishing with their fathers. In the past, Indian children had more chores and less time to play.

They did have toys and games to play, such as a hoop game where kids tried to throw a dart through a moving hoop.

Give An Example

What is it like to be a Native American child?

1. Draw pictures that show how Cherokee Indians lived in the 1700s.

2. Tell one way your life is different from the life of a Cherokee Indian child.