In the early nineteenth century during the presidency of Andrew Jackson and the debate of the Indian Removal Bill came one of the most important accomplishments of the Cherokee Nation, their own newspaper written in their own language. This experiment in Indian journalism began on February 21, 1828 in the Cherokee capital of New Echota. The paper employed a minimum staff of three to four people throughout its duration, often dismissing and rehiring printers. However, the most noteworthy of these were the people who first employed by the paper:journeyman printer John F. Wheeler, printer Isaac Harris, and editor Elias Boudinot. These men helped to further Cherokee nationalism by using of a simple syllabery script, developed by a mixed blood Cherokee named Sequayah, that allowed the Cherokee language to be written. The Phoenix was not only printed in Cherokee but also in English, for the non-Cherokee reading Indians as well as white subscribers who lived in Boston, New York, Richmond, Charleston, Nashville, Mobile, and Augusta. However, subscribers did not just receive an example of written Cherokee in this first installment, they were also provided with a list of what the Phoenix reader could expect from all the future issues. 1. The laws and public documents of the Nation.2. Account of the manners and customs of the Cherokees, and their progress in Education, Religion and the arts of civilized life; with such notices of other Indian tribes as our limited means of information will allow.3. The principal interesting news of the day.4. Miscellaneous articles calculated to promote Literature, Civilization, and Religion among the Cherokees. In addition to listing these four points dealing with what the papers articles would focus on, Boudinot wrote what he expected to accomplish by presenting them in a newspaper. Such a paper, compri...
