Sequoyah, a determined Cherokee, changed his people's fate in the early 1800s. Faced with pressure from American settlers, the Cherokee Nation adopted many American customs while striving to preserve its culture. Unable to read or write himself, Sequoyah spent years creating a syllabary of 85 symbols for the Cherokee language. Once learned, people could read and write almost immediately. By 1828 the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper was printed in both English and Cherokee. Despite later hardships, his