This summer visitors to the Frisco Native American Museum will have the opportunity to have their
name written in the Cherokee language syllabary and to learn about Cherokee culture, language
and history from descendant and scholar Dr. Tina Bradley.
Dr. Bradley has done extensive work
with the original Cherokee language including the online Cherokee–English Transcription and
Translation program, creating the language curriculum for K-12 for the federal reservation school,
and crafting the embedded language technique opening the way for digital transfer of documents
and graphic design to anyone.
This program is free with paid admission to the museum and will be offered every Wednesday through the summer months starting THIS WEEK from the hours of 1:00 to 4:00
Come in any time during those hours to meet Dr. Tina Bradley to learn about the language and have your name translated into Cherokee!
A Bit of History
The Cherokee people made their principle home in the Great Stokey Mountains with some families
spreading out to the lowlands. The Cherokee travelled far and wide throughout what we now know
as America, Canada and Mexico. In fact the path across the Sierra Madres cut through present
day Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming is called the Cherokee Trail paying tribute to the
tribal members who helped forge a path through dense forests and unforgiving mountains.
Sequoyah’s father was not present in his life having left the homeland before he was even born
forcing him to be raised by his Cherokee mother. His Mother had a trading post where Sequoyah
was fascinated by the written records of the white men. So in 1809 he began to develop his
“talking leaves” which featured 86 symbols for every utterance in the traditional Cherokee
language. It took him 12 years and many trials including being scorned by his family and shunned
by the tribe.
The story goes that he was to be executed for the practice of dark arts when he begged to be
allowed to prove that his method of communicating was real and that anyone could learn to use
what is called a syllabary. He had taught his daughter how to read and write using the symbols.
He was taken to a remote cabin on the edge of the village while his daughter was kept with the
Principal Chief. Sequoyah wrote out a brief communication. He verbally told the men what it said.
A messenger was sent with the talking leaf to the Chief’s cabin where Ayokeh was required to read
it. When her reading matched exactly what her Father had verbally told the other men the Chief
and tribal members were convinced.
Sequoyah taught anyone who desired to learn and the tribe began to write their heritage and
utilized the system of written language to communicate with people a great distance away which
became very important after the forced removal of the vast majority of Cherokees to Oklahoma in
1830. In 1824 the Chief had a silver medal created to award Sequoyah for his monumental work.
In 1825 the tribal council officially adopted the Syllabary and the first official project was the
creation of eight copies of the tribal laws in 1826. In 1828 the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper
began publication with the help of Christian missionaries. It is still published today and has grown
with the tribe through its many changes and challenges.
Today it is possible to type on Apple and Microsoft computers in the syllabary and was one of the
languages used in the code talker initiative credited with helping to end World War II. The
Cherokee syllabary was one of the most successful implementation of a pre-literate group creating
a usable, teachable and effective written language. Word spread across the continent and over
the years many other indigenous people created their own syllabic written language. An American
missionary took his fluency with the language to Liberia where Bassa speaking people created
their own mode of written language. From there the initiative spread to Western Africa and China.
All told, Sequoyah impacted the creation of 21 indigenous scripts across 65 languages. The
modernized version of the syllabary has features similar to Roman, Cyrillic, Greek and Arabic.
Twice a year the Western Band and the Eastern band come together to agree on new words to be
added to the official language. A free translation program is available at www.cherokee.org under
the cultural tab and labeled “word list”.
Copyright by Tina Phronjia Bradley, PHD 2018
About the author: Tina can trace her Cherokee roots on both sides of her family tree. She is one
quarter Cherokee by blood quantum. Dr. Bradley has actively sought opportunities to learn about
her heritage, keep it alive through usage, teaching and academic projects. She was one of the
scholars with the Cherokee-English transcription project which is now published at
www.cherokeedictionary.net. She developed the curriculum for Cherokee language K-12 at the
federal school on the North Carolina reservation and developed a process by which the syllabary
could be imbedded in a word document such that anyone opening it would see it in syllabary
instead of English paving the way for educational portals for the students, parents, teachers and
the Cherokee community at large. Dr. Bradley completed Cherokee 1 and Cherokee 2 course of
study through the western band. She earned her BA from the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte, a two year diploma at the Children’s Institute of Literature focusing on juvenile word
craft, a two year diploma from ICS in Freelance writing and a duel doctorate in Journalism and
Professional Writing from AIU. She teaches at The College of the Albermarle where she has
taught thousands of students always incorporating the traditional Cherokee world views into her
courses. She makes her home in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.