Sequoyah High School (also known as Sequoyah-Tahlequah) is a Native American

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

serving students in grades 7 through 12, who are members of a federally recognized Native American tribe. The school is located in

Park Hill, Oklahoma Park Hill is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in southwestern Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,909 at the 2010 census. It lies near Tahlequah, east of the junction of U.S. Route 62 and ...

, with a Tahlequah post office address, - The land with the school is o
page 3

2000 Map:
page 3
/ref> - Compare the address to the CDP maps. Please note the school is ''not'' (as of 2020) in the Tahlequah city limits

and is a

Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), headquartered in the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C., and formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP), is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant S ...

(BIE) grant school operated by the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...

. Sequoyah is one of two boarding high schools for Native Americans in Oklahoma. It is a part of Sequoyah Schools ( chr, ᏏᏉᏯ ᏗᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ, translit=Siquoya Dideloquasdi).

Background

Sequoyah Schools also has an elementary school grades pre-school through 8. Students in pre-school through grade 6 at the Cherokee Immersion School learn in

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

then begin to transition to instruction in English in grade 5. In 2007 Jeff Raymond of ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larges ...

'' stated that the school was known to ethnic Cherokee people living throughout the United States.

History

The school was founded in 1871 by the Cherokee National Council as the Cherokee Orphan Asylum to care for the numerous orphans who came out of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The first building on the current site of the school was erected in 1875.Conley, Robert L
''A Cherokee Encyclopedia.''
Albuquerque:

University of New Mexico Press The University of New Mexico Press (UNMP) is a university press at the University of New Mexico. It was founded in 1929 and published pamphlets for the university in its early years before expanding into quarterlies and books. Its administrative ...

, 2007:214. (Retrieved through Google Books, 23 July 2009.) . The Cherokee National Council gave permission for acting Chief

William Charles Rogers William Charles Rogers (December 13, 1847 – November 8, 1917) was born in the Cherokee Nation near present-day Skiatook, Oklahoma, USA, on December 13, 1847. A Confederate veteran and successful farmer, he entered tribal politics in 1881.

to sell the property (which included plus the buildings) to the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

for a sum of $5,000 in 1914. In 1925, the name of the school was changed to Sequoyah Orphan Training School to memorialize

Sequoyah Sequoyah (Cherokee language, Cherokee: ᏍᏏᏉᏯ, ''Ssiquoya'', or ᏎᏉᏯ, ''Se-quo-ya''; 1770 – August 1843), also known as George Gist or George Guess, was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American polymath of the Ch ...

, a noted Cherokee who invented the

Cherokee syllabary The Cherokee syllabary is a syllabary invented by Sequoyah in the late 1810s and early 1820s to write the Cherokee language. His creation of the syllabary is particularly noteworthy as he was illiterate until the creation of his syllabary. He f ...

. For a short time, the school was also known as Sequoyah Vocational School. During much of its early years, the school boasted an active dairy and various other farming and agricultural facilities. It was operated by the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

as a boarding school until 1985. In November 1985 the

resumed operations at Sequoyah High School from the

and now operates under a grant. The school now maintains of land and more than a dozen major buildings five miles (8 km) southwest of

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; ''Cherokee'': ᏓᎵᏆ, ''daligwa'' ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century ...

. Jolyn Choate began working as principal circa 2012. In 2020 the school had a lack of teachers who focused on mathematics and science. Patrick Moore served as the superintendent until he resigned in 2020.

Campus

The school is on of land, in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Cherokee County Cherokee County is the name of eight counties in the United States: * Cherokee County, Alabama * Cherokee County, Georgia * Cherokee County, Iowa * Cherokee County, Kansas * Cherokee County, North Carolina * Cherokee County, Oklahoma * Cherokee Co ...

. It is southwest of Tahlequah, and has a Tahlequah postal address. In 2003 its cafeteria had a capacity of 280 and the overall campus was designed for about 300 students. The dormitories are only open to students at the high school levels.

Admissions and operations

In order to be admitted a student must possess a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood to show membership in a

Federally Recognized Tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

. there are no other hard requirements for attending. In 2007 Raymond stated that the school had competitive admissions with a wait list and that "today's students clamor to get into Sequoyah". The tribal government and the BIE fully finance the school's operations, so no tuition charges are levied against students.

Curriculum

The school has specialized courses pertaining to the Cherokee people, including those on the tribe's history, the arts, the

Cherokee language 200px, Number of speakers Cherokee or Tsalagi ( chr, ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, ) is an endangered-to-moribund Iroquoian language and the native language of the Cherokee people. ''Ethnologue'' states that there were 1,520 Cherokee speaker ...

and other aspects of the tribal culture. As of 2007 the State of Oklahoma requires each high school student to complete 23 credits, but the school requires each of its students to complete 28.

Demographics

School enrollment is approximately 430 students, with 47% male and 53% female students. The teacher-student ratio is 1:15. 100% of the student population is American Indian, compared to Oklahoma's state average of 18% American Indian students.Sequoyah High School.
''Public School Review.'' (retrieved 23 July 2009) In 2007 there were 436 students, with over 100 living on campus. In 2006 there were 360 students. In 2003 there were 363 students, which at the time was an enrollment high. These students originated from 16 states, and were members of 39 tribes. At the time the campus was built to accommodate about 300 students.

Athletics

The mascot is the Indian. Circa September 2005 there were rumors that the school would change the name of the mascot to the eagle. Chad Smith, the Principal Chief of the tribe, issued an executive order stating that the mascot would remain the same so long as the school board agrees. In 2006 Gina Stanley, the superintendent of Cherokee Schools, stated that the mascot has a positive reception among the students.

State championships

Sequoyah High School has won 21 state championships in seven sports:Athletics Homepage
''Sequoyah High School.'' (retrieved 25 January 2019) Powerlifting – 2016 Boys Basketball – 2003 Girls Basketball – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2015, 2017, 2018 Boys Cross Country – 1964, 1965, 1969, 1993, 1995, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Girls Cross Country – 1992, 2005 Slow Pitch Softball – 2012 Fast Pitch Softball – 2018

Notable alumni

Angel Goodrich Angel Goodrich (born February 24, 1990) is an American former professional basketball player, who played for the Tulsa Shock and Seattle Storm in the WNBA. Background and family Goodrich was born in Glendale, Arizona to Jonathan and Fayth (G ...

, WNBA basketball player *

Jackson Narcomey Jackson Narcomey (January 25, 1942 – March 22, 2012) was a Muscogee Creek painter and printmaker from Oklahoma. Jackson Leon Narcomey was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.Timothy II, John. "Jackson Narcomey: Artist Profile.Amerindian Arts/ref> His p ...

, painter and printmaker *

Nathan Stanley Nathan Thomas Stanley (born January 24, 1989) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He played college football at Southeastern Louisiana University after transferri ...

, American football player *

Ryan Helsley Ryan Dalton Helsley (born July 18, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019. Amateur career Helsley attended Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah, ...

, pitcher for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

References

External links

Sequoyah High School
* * {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1871 Cherokee Nation buildings and structures Boarding schools in Oklahoma Public high schools in Oklahoma Schools in Cherokee County, Oklahoma Native American boarding schools Public middle schools in Oklahoma 1871 establishments in Indian Territory Buildings and structures in Tahlequah, Oklahoma Public boarding schools in the United States