This Native American inscription was found deep inside a cave. 200 years later, scholars think they understand its meaning.
A Cherokee syllabary inscription found inside a cave in Fort Payne, Ala. It refers to the “leaders of a stick ball game,” a Native American game similar to lacrosse. By Dana Hedgpeth Dana Hedgpeth Reporter covering local breaking news Email Bio Follow April 10 at 1:20 PM At first glance, it looked like a set of black numbers and letters written in English, perhaps with some symbols included.
The inscriptions inside Manitou Cave of Alabama are in the Cherokee syllabary developed by Cherokee scholar Sequoyah. He had enlisted in the U.S. Army under Andrew Jackson to fight rebelling Creek Indians and had become interested in how whites used the alphabet to communicate. Willstown was called the most important town in the Cherokee nation by government authorities. Sequoyah lived there at one point in his life.The caves, which sit on private land and are now closed to the public, were used by Cherokees as places for rituals and ceremonies. Scholars said the inscriptions reflect the conflict they faced, as some Cherokees choose to assimilate and others wanted to resist.
Cherokee syllabary written in Sequoyah's handwriting. He was a Cherokee scholar who developed the tribe's first written communication system. Eventually, he adjusted the symbols to make them look similar to the English alphabet so it could be used in a printing press and for the Cherokees’ newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix. Another inscription details the stick ball game. It reads this way: Ꮧ Ꮍ Ꮿ Ꮑ Ꮝ Ꭶ Ꮼ Ꮧ Ꭶ Ꮀ Ꮲ Ꭹ — which translates to “We who have blood come out of their nose and mouth.
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