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One morning a man rode into the Cherokee village of Tasigi, Tennessee.  He was a white trader named Nathaniel Gist (or George Gist).  He traded scissors, metal pots, glass beads, needles, colored wool and mirrors.  He traded all these things for animal furs, which fetched a high price in silver.  There, Gist met a beautiful woman named Wu Teh.  She was the sister of three high chiefs, well known to all.  They were Pumpkin Boy, Double Head and Old Tassel.  After that, Gist made many more trips to the small Indian village.  After a short time of courting, Gist married Wu Teh.  Soon after the wedding, Gist started drinking and became violent.  He tried to sell whiskey (alcohol) to some young Indian boys, for this was worth five furs a jug.  Wu Teh became worried, and with a new baby coming, she was worried even more.  One night Double Head and his warriors caught Gist selling the whiskey.  They started to chase him, so he ran to his cabin where Wu Teh waited.  He grabbed his pouch of silver and the few belongings he had, and ran out the door leaving Wu Teh behind.  He mounted his horse and galloped away, with a pack of angry Indians on his tail.  Gist was never seen again.  Wu Teh was heartbroken. She felt worst about her poor, fatherless baby.  A few weeks later, Wu Teh had her baby in Tasigi, Tennessee.  She named him Sequoyah, meaning "the lame one".  This is because one of his legs was longer than the other.  His English name was George Gist.  Wu Teh named him after his father.  It was common to name a child after the child's father.  Nobody knows the actual birthdate of Sequoyah, but it was probably about 1770.  When he was born, his mother swore to raise him in Cherokee ways.