Hodges Soileau (American, B. 1943) "Sequoyah" Signed lower right. Original Mixed Media painting on Paper. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting originally appeared on the Fleetwood Sequoyah Commemorative Cover postmarked February 21, 1983. Sequoyah, also known as George Gist, was probably born about 1770, near Fort Loudon on the Tennessee River. From childhood Sequoyah lived among the Cherokees. Although he knew no English, he was fascinated by the whites' method of transmitting information over long distances with writing, and their ability to accumulate knowledge with printed words. About 1809 he began experimenting with an alphabet for the Cherokee language, but his work was interrupted by the Creek War of 1813-14. Along with other Cherokees he served as a soldier under Andrew Jackson against the Creeks. Returning to his Cherokee alphabet after the war, Sequoyah eventually devised eighty-six written characters, each representing one of the syllables of the tribe's spoken language. The syllabary proved to be easy to learn and was officially adopted by the tribe. In 1827 the Cherokee leaders ordered printing types cast of Sequoyah's alphabet, purchased a press, and on February 21, 1828, the first issue of the Cherokee Phoenix was published, a unique event in American Indian history. During that year Sequoyah was invited to Washington where government officials presented him with an award, and Charles Bird King painted his portrait. His last years were spent in a search for the "lost" Cherokees, a group who had migrated to Mexico. He died near Matamoras sometime in 1843. Among the memorials to Sequoyah's genius are the giant trees of California that were given his name, a national park, and a statue in the national capitol. Image Size: in. Overall Size: in. Unframed. (B06904)