1826 / Philadelphia

Invention of Letters

Tags:: Cherokee,; English,; Native Americans,; translation,; writing

When before did a nation of Indians step forward and ask for the means of civilization? The Cherokee authorities have adopted the measures already stated, with a sincere desire to make their nation an intelligent and virtuous people, and with a full hope that those who have already pointed out to them the road of happiness, will now assist them to pursue it. With that assistance, what are the prospects of the Cherokees? Are they not indeed glorious, compared to that deep darkness in which the nobler qualities of their souls have slept? Yes, methinks I can view my native country, rising from the ashes of her degradation, wearing her purified and beautiful garments, and taking her seat with the nations of the earth. I can behold her sons bursting the fetters of ignorance and unshackling her from the voice of heathenism. She is at this instant, risen like the first morning sun, which grows brighter and brighter, until it reaches its fullness of glory.

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About the Author

Elias Boudinot, from “An Address to the Whites.” A Cherokee Indian born around 1803 as the first of nine children, Gallegina or “Buck” assumed the name of Elias Boudinot, a former member of the Continental Congress, after meeting his namesake on the way to enrolling at the Foreign Mission School in Connecticut. He became a founder of the Moral and Literary Society of the Cherokee Nation in 1824, delivered this speech two years later while on a speaking tour, and served as the editor of the new Cherokee Phoenix in 1828.

Making a film means, first of all, to tell a story. That story can be an improbable one, but it should never be banal. It must be dramatic and human. What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out?