In 1821 a Cherokee Native American named Sequoyah had been making marks on paper that some fellow tribesmen believed were black magic, and, though Sequoyah was a popular member of his tribe, he was subjected to a trial by the tribal leaders. In reality Sequoyah had been composing a written language in their native language, for there were not at that time any Native people in the U.S. Who had an alphabet or written language.

Sequoyahs’ trial was successful for him, as he sent his young daughter, who knew how to read her father’s words, out of the room with a written message. Then he spoke the message to the chiefs. When she returned, his daughter read the message aloud , and the chiefs were astounded at the “miracle.” All of them wanted to learn to read, and in six months, one quarter of the Cherokee people could read in their own language. By 1827 the Cherokee people had a written Constitution, a written history, and by 1828, the first Native newspaper in America. In twenty five years the Cherokee people had a higher rate of literacy than the Non—Native population. (The Smithsonian Magazine Summer, 2026, Pg. 84)

The need and desire to communicate is universal. When Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden of Eden, it was the fellowship of communication that they all enjoyed, the communication that was so badly broken in their fall. (Genesis3:8) Later, when Jesus began his ministry, his disciples asked him to teach them to pray, to communicate with God. Jesus was quick to respond to such a request when he gave them the “Lord’s Prayer.” The Christian faith is built on a holy communication: the Bible itself. It was writing that Moses brought down from the mountain, writing in stone by the hand of God. At every crisis in the Bible there is saving communication from God to His people: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2Chronicles 7:14)

The Cherokee leaders witnessed a simple display of literacy and they humbled themselves to learn to read. They changed their civilization forever, ahead of all other Native tribes in North America. Today the Cherokee are literate in the English language, and some are literate in both English and Sequoyah’s Cherokee language.

God looks for those who are literate in His language, which is His Holy Spirit, accessible in the pages of His Book, the Bible.

Love in Him,

Prue