Have any of your ever read "Tell Them They Lie; The Myth of
Sequoyah" by Traveler Bird? If you have and know anything about the
circumstances under which it was written... particularly the primary
source materials for the book, I would really appreciate a message to
that effect.
For those who have not read it, Bird describes the current image of
the Cherokee statesman "Sequoyah" as a political myth: That the
historical image of him as a mixed-blood who used the english
alphabet to design a written language is nothing more than an
eloquent lie to cover the truth.
The truth? She argues that Sequoyah was a full-blood, the last of a
clad that kept the history of the Cherokee in written form... writing
that existed prior to Anglo contact. The image of sequoyah itself,
she argues is a lie. Sequoyah had the tips of his nose, ears, and
fingers cut off by soldiers as punishment for writing.
Comments from others on this rather odd text book are welcome.
Dr. George D. Baldwin
Chair, Dept. of Sociology
Henderson State Univerity
Arkadelphia, AR 71923 telephone: 501-246-5511 x3292