Students at a new middle school in Washington overwhelmingly choose to name their school after Sequoyah, the Cherokee citizen who developed a written syllabary for the Cherokee language.

The name Sequoyah was picked over other names more representative of Pacific Northwest tribes. Students passed over Subiyay, the Indian name of the late Skokomish spiritual leader Bruce Miller.

The naming of the Federal Way school was controversial because area tribal members wanted it to be named for Robert Satiacum, the late chief of the Puyallup Tribe. But the school board did not put his name in the running. The board also rejected the name of a police officer killed in the line of duty because he was not Native American.

Get the Story:
Students vote, and Sequoyah's it for new school (The Tacoma News-Tribune 5/4)

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