-40%
American Cherokee Indian Peace Medal, Modern Replica, Sequoyah
$ 132
- Description
- Size Guide
Description
Probably a post 1843 Modern Replica of a Cherokee American Indian Peace Medal. OBVERSE: AMERICAN INDIAN CHIEF "Sequoyah" IN FULL WAR BONNET. REVERSE: Europeans landing from a sailing ship. 1 1/2" round. Multi colored glass, trade beads neck cord. Brass bail.Free USPS priority shipping, signature required.
Indian peace medals refer to ovular, circular or square medals awarded to tribal leaders throughout colonial America and early United States history, primarily made ranging in diameter from about one to six inches. Medals were often perforated and worn suspended around the neck of the recipient. Many Indian peace medals today are archived in museums, libraries, and cultural centers.
Background: Sequoyah
(
Ssiquoya
, as he signed his name, or
Se-quo-ya
, as is often spelled in Cherokee, named in English "
George Gist
or
George Guess", circa
1770–1843), was a Native American polymath of the Cherokee Nation. In 1821 he completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary making reading and writing in Cherokee possible. This was one of the very few times in recorded history that a member of a pre- English literate people created an original, effective,
writing system
.
After seeing its worth, the people of the
Cherokee Nation
rapidly began to use his syllabary and officially adopted it in 1825. Their
literacy rate quickly surpassed that of surrounding
European- American settlers.
As a collector of Indian Peace Medals, they represent to me, artifacts of the U. S. Government's early, historical, continuing, shameful, efforts of broken treaties and genocide of the Native American Indians