Talking leaves and rocks that teach: the archaeological discovery of Sequoyah's oldest written record

Abstract

The authors investigate the origins of the earliest script of the Cherokees, using inscriptions in the Red Bird River Shelter. Their analysis suggests that the engravings in the cave show the experimental creation of a syllabary (alphabet of signs). This in turn offers support for the historical notion that this writing system was not an ancestral practice preserved through missionaries, but an invention of the early nineteenth century; one that should be credited to the Native American pioneer scholar, Sequoyah.

The Red Bird River Shelter (15CY52) Revisited: The Archaeology of the Cherokee Syllabary and of Sequoyah in Kentucky

“…Despite being the subject of at least three publications (Coy and Fuller 1969; Coy et al 1997:34–37; Weeks and Tankersley 2011), the Red Bird River Shelter petroglyph site has never been completely described, so we will do so here. The shelter was formed in the Pikeville formation, Breathitt group of the Lower and Middle Pennsylvanian period lithostrata of eastern Kentucky.…”

“…The rest of the engravings in the shelter fall into their chronological periods 1, 2, and 4, although they do not distinguish which glyphs fall into which period. Our Figure 1 shows Weeks and Tankersley's view of this area, including a photograph of the panel by Dr. Fred Coy (Weeks and Tankersley 2011: Figure 6) and their interpretive line drawing of Coy's photograph (2011: Figure 7). Based on their drawing, they argue that the lower right portion of the panel comprises prototypic Cherokee Syllabary symbols (Weeks and Tankersley 2011:985).…”

“…Our Figure 1 shows Weeks and Tankersley's view of this area, including a photograph of the panel by Dr. Fred Coy (Weeks and Tankersley 2011: Figure 6) and their interpretive line drawing of Coy's photograph (2011: Figure 7). Based on their drawing, they argue that the lower right portion of the panel comprises prototypic Cherokee Syllabary symbols (Weeks and Tankersley 2011:985). In all, they suggest “19 characters can be plausibly identified” (2011:983), and they undertake an epigraphic analysis of these inscriptions.…”

“…Based on their drawing, they argue that the lower right portion of the panel comprises prototypic Cherokee Syllabary symbols (Weeks and Tankersley 2011:985). In all, they suggest “19 characters can be plausibly identified” (2011:983), and they undertake an epigraphic analysis of these inscriptions. Then, in their Figure 8 (2011:986), they offer a tabular correlation of the Red Bird petroglyphic symbols with syllabary elements handwritten by Sequoyah himself and from the print press version of the syllabary developed between 1825 and 1828 to mass produce printed materials for consumption by the newly literate Cherokee people (these two forms of syllabary do not entirely correspond).…”

“…In addition to the syllabary symbols, Weeks and Tankersley argue that there is a date associated with the Cherokee inscription: “a date of ‘1808’ or ‘1818’ is inscribed to the immediate right of the syllabary” (Weeks and Tankersley 2011:984). They acknowledge, however, that the third digit of the inscription is difficult to discern.…”