In 1828, the Cherokee Phoenix began publication in New Echota, Georgia. It was the first newspaper published by Native Americans in the United States and printed in both English and the Cherokee syllabary. Its existence was a striking act of literary sovereignty during mounting pressure for removal.

The Cherokee Phoenix showed how Indigenous language technology could become a tool of political and literary survival. Its bilingual pages helped preserve Cherokee public voice and influenced later Native writers who used print to resist erasure and reclaim narrative authority.