Tom McNeely Sold at Auction Prices

Painter, Illustrator

Born and raised a Cherokee, Sequoyah never spoke English, yet he watched in awe and wonderment as the white man looked at "talking leaves" and the leaves spoke to him. To be able to glance at a sheet full of another person's thoughts was like "catching a wild animal and taming it," he reasoned. He yearned to document his tribe's speech so that the leaves could speak to his people too. Sequoyah felt certain that this was the key to freedom from the white man. In 1809, Sequoyah tried representing tribal words with small animal figures and symbols, but the list grew hopelessly long. Next, he broke the words into syllables and designated symbols for each one. For twelve years he tirelessly labored toward his dream, often using a charred stick on a piece of bark as his writing tools. In 1821, he was ready to put his syllabary to the test. Men whispered a message to Sequoyah's child and the child wrote the message. Then, without faltering, Sequoyah read the message aloud. The skeptics were forever silenced. Soon, thousands of Indians mastered the eighty-six characters and could read and write. Sadly, despite this written language and Sequoyah's dream of freedom, white men still considered Cherokees as savages, to be relocated at their whim. Fortunately, today the Indian civilization is more highly regarded. In fact, the great Sequoyah is namesake to California's Sequoia National Park.