Cherokee Syllabary/Alphabet Sculpture

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Hand hammered Sterling Silver sculpture monted in a silver metal frame. It has 4 custom cut mats in the Cherokee colors of red, black, white and blue. There is also a round piece of dark purple wampum in one section of the sculpture and the "kamama" or butterfly in another corner that represents the Cherokee symbol for everlasting life. There are 86 Cherokee symbols on the sculpture that are used to write and read the Cherokee language. Sequoya the inventor and Cherokee leader was amazed at how the white man communicated through written language. He decided to dedicate most of his life to make a system of writing for his people. After the war, he worked for many years developing the characters. Each of the 86 characters Sequoyah created, stands for a syllable in the Cherokee language. He completed the writing system in 1821, after 12 years of hard work. Sequoya wanted his writing to be used for his people to record their ancient tribal culture.