The Cherokee syllabary was originally developed by Sequoyah (sometimes referred to as George Guess, Gist, Guyst or Gyst) in 1821 CE. Accounts say that he developed the syllabary after having a conversation with some young men. The young men claimed that white people were superior because of the invention of writing. In response, Sequoyah made some marks on a stone and read a sentence back to the young men based on what he'd inscribed. The young men laughed in response and ended that part of their conversation.
Inspired by this experience, Sequoyah bought supplies for painting the Cherokee language on paper and finished in about a month. His script spread rapidly among Cherokee communities and resulted in widespread literacy (Tuchscherer and Hair 2002, p. 431-434)