Worcester was strongly influenced by a young Cherokee named "Oowatie" (later known by the English name he took, in honor of a mentor, Elias Boudinot). The Cherokee Boudinot had been educated in New England schools and was the nephew of Major Ridge, a wealthy and politically prominent Cherokee National Council member. The two men became close friends over the two years they had known each other. Sequoyah, a Cherokee from Tennessee, had independently developed a syllabary to create a writing system for the Cherokee language. This was a singular achievement for a person from a pre-literate society. He and his people had admired the written papers of the European Americans, which they called the "Talking Leaves."