Sequoyah was a young Cherokee Indian, son of a white trader and an Indian squaw. At an early age, he became fascinated by 'the talking leaf', an expression that he used to describe the white man's records. Although many believed this 'talking leaf' to be a gift from the Great spirit, Sequoyah refused to accept that theory. Like other Indians of the period, he was illiterate, but his determination to remedy the situation led to the invention of a unique eighty-six-character alphabet based on the sound patterns that he heard.