Imagine a people with a distinct identity, a Nation that existed within the boundaries of four southern states of the United States. It was a Nation losing its land, and it produced a newspaper that not only informed its people but spoke to those outside its borders in search of allies.

History tells us that a newspaper was published in the Cherokee Nation in northern Georgia before the Trail of Tears. It was called the Cherokee Phoenix and was published from 1828 to 1834 in the last capital of the Cherokee of New Echota, Georgia. By the advent of the Phoenix, Cherokee lands had been reduced by successive treaty and encroachment, and there existed the possibility of total displacement of the Cherokee people. The new Georgian capital of the Cherokee was developed in the 1820s as the seat of government for a much smaller Cherokee Nation.

In 1821 Sequoyah had completed the development of the eighty-five character Cherokee syllabary, and only seven years later, he saw his writing system printed for the Cherokee Nation in the first Native American newspaper. The beautiful calligraphic syllabary was cast into metal for printing, and the first edition of the Phoenix appeared 21 February 1828. A replica of the Cherokee Nation’s print shop may be seen today at the New Echota State Historic Site, near Calhoun, Georgia.

This exhibition is sponsored by Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University Libraries Preservation Office, and Southeast Chapter of the Guild of Bookworkers.

Supported in part by a grant from the Early American Industries Association, Inc.
SpeakEasy Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama copyright 2005, Frank Brannon,
SpeakEasy Press, www.speakeasypress.com

HOME