Why "Sequoyah" ?

Sequoyah was a Native American polymath who invented the Cherokee syllabary in about 1821 - a way of writing down the Cherokee language to enable the capture of information and improve communication.  We've used the name here for the Wisley Tour Guides knowledge base, as his name is honoured in the trees Sequioa (although spelt differently), Sequoiadendron and Metasequioa.  Wisley holds the National Collection of Metasequoia.

For more information, see the Wikipedia page on Sequoyah, from which this is an extract: 

Sequoyah came to believe that one of white people's many advantages was their written language, which allowed them to expand their knowledge, partake in many forms of media, and have a better network of communication. The Cherokees' disadvantage was having to rely solely on memory. This sparked his interest in wanting to create some form of a written language for the Cherokee nation.

As a silversmith, Sequoyah dealt regularly with European Americans who had settled in the area. He was impressed by their writing, and referred to their correspondence as "talking leaves". He knew that the papers represented a way to transmit information to other people in distant places, which his fellow American soldiers were able to do but he and other indigenous people could not. A majority of the Cherokee assumed that writing was either sorcery, witchcraft, a special gift, or a pretence; Sequoyah accepted none of these explanations. He said that he could invent a way for Cherokees to talk on paper, even though his friends and family thought the idea was absurd.