Document Analysis of Cherokee Letter

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The document I have chosen is a letter to the editor of the Phoenix and Indian's Advocate. In 1821, Sequoyah, also known as George Gist, presented his new Cherokee written language to the Cherokee leaders. The written language consisted of six vowels and eighty consonants, that represented the sounds of the Cherokee language.

In 1825, the Cherokee National Council authorized Elias Boudinot(born Killakeena, or Buck Watie), to travel the country to solicit donations for a printing press. Boudinot was the son of Major Ridge's brother, Oowatie. In early 1828, the press, type, and furniture for the printing office arrived in New Echota. The Cherokee Council hired a white printer by the name of Isaac Harris. He was given a salary of four hundred dollars a year for his services. Boudinot, who was the translator, office manager, and apprentice to Harris received three hundred dollars a year, and after a contribution from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Boudinot received four hundred dollars a year.

The first issue of the Cherokee Phoenix was published on February 21st, 1828, and a year later the named was changed to the Cherokee Phoenix and Indian's Advocate. It was a weekly paper printed in both English and Cherokee. The newspaper was circulated in the United States and Europe. According to Boudinot, the translation of articles into the Cherokee language was "by far the most arduous part of our labor"(Rozema 128). As a result, only important documents were translated into the Cherokee language.

In 1832, Boudinot began to favor the idea of removal of the West. He felt the Cherok...

... middle of paper ...

...hat John Ridge has a great deal of respect for life and his Cherokee brothers and sisters. That the Cherokee community was very close and very spiritual. They believed in the possibility of a peaceful death without the assistance of religious influence. I believe my conclusion is reliable because of my reliable source and my detailed evaluation of the document. Although my conclusion may be completely wrong to others, and in the eyes of other historians I may have misinterpreted the obituary the wrong way, but I believe I have seen enough evidence to make an accurate decision on the piece. John Ridge is not presenting a bias account of OO-DAH-YEE's death, he is simply writing a tribute to and elder Cherokee woman. This letter could bring Pleurisy to the attention of other members of the Cherokee nation, to the attention of American's and even to the English.

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