First edition of the Cherokee Phoenix printed

ᏍᏏᏉᏯ or Sequoyah was a Cherokee polymath born around 1770 who developed the Cherokee syllabary. Cherokee Nation officially adopted the syllabary in 1825 and by 1830 had a ~90% literacy rate, surpassing that of surrounding European-American settlers. His impact is deeply important to the continuation of the Cherokee language, but also internationally important. His syllabary system is believed to have inspired the development of 21 scripts or writing systems used in 65 languages in North America, Africa, and Asia. He completed the syllabary in 1821, and successfully taught his first pupil: his six-year-old daughter, Ahyokah.

The Cherokee Phoenix (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎴᎯᏌᏅᎯ, romanized: Tsalagi Tsulehisanvhi) is the first newspaper published by Native Americans in the United States and the first published in a Native American language. On this day in 1828 the first issue was published. We remember Sequoyah's important work in language preservation and his life today.