Ishi

Last of the Yahi tribe

Born: 1860?

I remember learning about Ishi in primary school. I remember crying and feeling devastated. It was the beginning of my learning the horrifying truth of what happened to my race. I was never able to escape the thoughts of the decimation of my race after learning about Ishi. I was to be haunted for decades to come and didn't know it. I didn't understand what was happening to me. The slaughter of my race became a fuel that lit a fire in me that would take me decades to control.
It took me decades to work through the pain of the public's mass apathy. The temporary "white guilt" people felt about what happen to my race, gave me a sense of power. It was all false. White guilt is not my power, it was my spirit's sickness tricking me.

Truthfully, I trusted those who felt guilty and gravitated towards them. I believed they understood my pain. The problem always became, non-native people didn't want to hear about the horror and would shut themselves off to it. I felt traumatized all over again. I wasn't able to turn anything off. Finally, I realized I needed to grow.
I am not to feel pleasure about another one's pain or guilt.
Thus began my journey to find my voice. A soft, truthful voice to bridge the gap between the unknowing and the knowing, and sometimes I am the unknowing. I am a student and a teacher.

I believed and still do, the key to protecting the remnants of our culture is to educate non-Indigenous people the truth of our experience. It is the very reason I encourage dialogue on my page. The minute we unite, the stronger we are as a collective voice.


Ishi
Last of the Yahi tribe
Born: 1860?

In August 1911, a silent “wild man” was found walking down from the northeastern California hills. He was brought to the local sheriff, and a member of the nearby Yana Indians determined that he belonged to the Yahi tribe, a branch of the Yanas. He was called “Ishi,” which means “man” in Yahi. His real name was never known—it was a Yahi tradition that a person's name not be revealed casually.
Three years earlier, a power company survey party had come upon an encampment with four people. Three of them fled, one of whom was Ishi, and the surveyors raided the settlement, stealing food and supplies, and then left an old woman who had been unable to flee. Evidence pointed that Ishi was the last surviving member of the Yahi, a tribe that may have had as many as 20,000 people in the previous century.
Ishi was taken in by Alfred Kroeber and Thomas Waterman, two anthropologists at the University of California, who learned to communicate with him and eagerly extracted the details of Yahi life, language, and culture from him. Ishi lived at the university's San Francisco anthropology museum and gave demonstrations of his tribal crafts. Ishi's entrance into the “civilized” world was also the cause of his death, as he contracted tuberculosis and died in 1916.





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How Dogs Came To The Indians

An Ojibwa story

Two Ojibwa Indians in a canoe had been blown far from shore by a great wind. They had gone far and were hungry and lost. They had little strength left to paddle, so they drifted before the wind.

At last their canoe was blown onto a beach and they were glad, but not for long. Looking for the tracks of animals, they saw some huge footprints that they knew must be those of a giant. They were afraid and hid in the bushes. As they crouched low, a big arrow thudded into the ground close beside them. Then a huge giant came toward them. A caribou hung from his belt, but the man was so big that it looked like a rabbit. He told them that he did not hurt people and he like to be a friend to little people, who seemed to the giant to be so helpless. He asked the two lost Indians to come home with him, and since they had no food and their weapons had been lost in the storm at sea, they were glad to go with him.

An evil Windigo spirit came to the lodge of the giant and told the two men that the giant had other men hidden away in the forest because he like to eat them. The Windigo pretended to be a friend, but he was the one who wanted the men because he was an eater of people. The Windigo became very angry when the giant would not give him the two men, and finally the giant became angry too. He took a big stick and turned over a big bowl with it.

A strange animal which the Indians had never seen before lay on the floor, looking up at them. It looked like a wolf to them, but the giant called the animal 'Dog.' The giant told him to kill the evil Windigo spirit. The beast sprang to its feet, shook himself, and started to grow, and grow, and grow. The more he shook himself, the more he grew and the fiercer he became. He sprang at the Windigo and killed him; then the dog grew smaller and smaller and crept under the bowl.

The giant saw that the Indians were much surprised and pleased with Dog and said that he would give it to them, though it was his pet. He told the men that he would command Dog to take them home. They had no idea how this could be done, though they had seen that the giant was a maker of magic, but they thanked the friendly giant for his great gift.

The giant took the men and the dog to the seashore and gave the dog a command. At once it began to grow bigger and bigger, until it was nearly as big as a horse. The giant put the two men onto the back of the dog and told them to hold on very tightly. As Dog ran into the sea, he grew still bigger and when the water was deep enough he started to swim strongly away from the shore.

After a very long time, the two Ojibwa began to see a part of the seacoast that they knew, and soon the dog headed for shore. As he neared the beach, he became smaller and smaller so that the Indians had to swim for the last part of their journey. The dog left them close to their lodges and disappeared into the forest. When the men told their tribe of their adventure, the people though that the men were speaking falsely. "Show us even the little mystery animal, Dog, and we shall believe you," a chief said.

A few moons came and went and then, one morning while the tribe slept, the dog returned to the two men. It allowed them to pet it and took food from their hands. The tribe was very much surprised to see this new creature. It stayed with the tribe.

That, as the Indians tell, was how the first dog came to the earth.

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Origin of Dolphins

Art: Robert Florczak

"The Rainbow Bridge"

Chumash

According to legend, Chumash who fell into the ocean while crossing the rainbow to the mainland were turned into dolphins.
Channel Islands National Park Hutash, the Earth Mother, created the first Chumash people on the island of Limuw, now known as Santa Cruz Island. They were made from the seeds of a Magic Plant.

Hutash was married to the Alchupo’osh, Sky Snake, the Milky Way, who could make lightning bolts with his tongue. One day he decided to make a gift to the Chumash people. He sent down a bolt of lightning that started a fire. After this, people kept fires burning so that they could keep warm and cook their food.

In those days, the Condor was a white bird. The Condor was very curious about the fire he saw burning in the Chumash village. He wanted to find out what it was. He flew very low over the fire to get a better look, but he flew too close; he got his feathers scorched, and they turned black. Now the Condor is a black bird, with just a little white left under the wings where they did not get burned.

After Alchupo’osh gave them fire, the Chumash people lived more comfortably. More people were born each year and their villages got bigger and bigger. Limuw was getting crowded. And the noise people made was starting to annoy Hutash. It kept her awake at night. So, finally, she decided that some of the Chumash people had to move off the island. They would have to go to the mainland, where there weren’t any people living in those days.

But how were the people going to get across the water to the mainland? Finally, Hutash had the idea of making a bridge out of a wishtoyo (rainbow). She made a very long, very high rainbow that stretched from the tallest mountain on Limuw all the way to Tzchimoos, the tall mountain near Mishopshno (Carpinteria).

Hutash told the people to go across the rainbow bridge and to fill the whole world with people. So the Chumash people started to go across the bridge. Some of them got across safely, but some people made the mistake of looking down. It was a long way down to the water, and the fog was swirling around. They became so dizzy that some of them fell off the rainbow bridge, down through the fog, into the ocean. Hutash felt very badly about this because she told them to cross the bridge. She did not want them to drown. To save them, she turned them into dolphins. Now the Chumash call the dolphins their brothers and sisters.

Excerpted from:
The Chumash People: Materials for Teachers and Students. Santa Barbara, CA: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 1991.

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Story in English and Cree

‪#‎BMB‬


Story in English and Cree
Mrs. Philomene Corrigal
Canoe Lake First Nation
Cree (Nêhiyawêwin)

Humility

tapahtêyimowin
1. "The story I am about to tell you happened one time when I, my mother, and other family members had been out on a hunting trip. The hunt was successful at that time. It happened by a lake where many treelined islands could be seen.

1. ôma âcimowin kâ-wî-âcimostâtân ê-kî-ispayik; pêyakwâw êkospî, niya, nikâwiy, nohtâwiy mîna nîcisânak ê-mâci-piciyâhk. kî-miyopayiwak êkospî omâcîwak sisonê sâkahikanihk ita ê-ministikoskâk.

2. We were on our way home when we caught sight of some pelicans. This was one of their favorite locations in the area. At the edge of the island where the pelicans had gathered, it was well packed down from use by other animals and birds. The beautiful birds were easily visible as they were silhouetted against the dark green background of the island's treeline. Without really thinking about what he was doing, my uncle began to shoot at them. Being an excellent marksman, he easily hit five of the pelicans killing them instantly.

2. ê-pimi-kîwêyâhk êkwa kâ-wâpamâyâhkik cahcâkiwak pêyakwayak mâna ita ohcitaw ê-tasihkêcik. sisonê ministikohk êkota ôki cahcâkiwak asiyatowak. mitoni kistatahamwak nanâtohk pîyêsîsak mîna kotakak pisiskiwak. katawasisiwak anihi cahcâkiwak ê- asicinâkosicik ministikohk. namôya ahpô mâh-mâmitonêyihtam tânisi ê-itôtahk nohcâwîs, kâ-mâci-pâh-pâskiswât anihi cahcâkiwa. êyikohk ê-nahâskwêt, sêmâk niyânan nipahêw êkota cahcâkiwa anihi.

3. Surprised by my uncle's actions, my mother turned to him and using a firm voice, told him that he had tampered with the law of nature. Needlessly killing pelicans she said, would bring the wind to answer this desecration.
3. koskohik nohcâwîsa awa nikâwiy ê-misi-kanawâpamât. "kwanita ê-mikoskâcihât pîkwac-âya," itwêw. "kwanita êkos îsi kâ-nipahacik cahcâkiwak, âhci ta-misi-yôtin," itêw.

4. Later that afternoon, we could see the clouds gathering in the distance to the west. By time evening arrived, and we were on our way home, the wind really began to blow. At one point, a window of a nearby cabin was blown right off from its casing. Standing trees were blown over by the force of the wind, spread over the ground like a roughly woven blanket. This intense wind also brought rain.

4.ê-akwâci-pôni-âpihtâ-kîsikâk pê-nôkwan ê-pê-misi-yîkwaskwahk pahkisimôtâhk. ispî êkwa ê-otâkosik ê-pimi-kîwêyâhk. âsay êkwa kâ-mâci-yôtihk. pêyakwayak wâsênamân wayawîyâstan wâskahikanisihk ohci. sôskwâc mistikwak ê-kâh-kawâsicik nanâtohk ê-itâskosihkik tâskôc ê-nâh-nâtohkokwâtêk akohp. êkwa mîna êyikohk ê- kimiwahk.

5. We rushed into the house and began to board up the windows with canvas frames. Rain pelted against the house and seeped in from the under the door. During the night, after we had already gone to bed, my father had to leap from his bed to grab a white canvas board so he could nail it quickly against another window blown apart by the continuing fury of the wind. By now, we all awoke to help my father to brace the other windows with yet more canvas frames.

5. nipihtokwêyâmonân wâskahikanihk êkwa ê-mâci-kâh-kiposakahamâhk wâsênamâna apahkwâsonêkin ohci. misi-kimiwan, kwanita kâ-pihtokwêciwahk nipiy sîpâ iskwâhtêmihk ohci. ê-kî-kawisimoyâhk êkwa âsay kêtahtawê nohtâwiy kâ-waniskâpahtât ê-nawacipitahk kotaka pahkwâsonêkin ê-akosakahahk kotakihk wâsênamânihk ê- yohtêyâstaniyik. kahkiyaw êkwa mîna ê-waniskâyâhk ê-wîcihâyâhk ta-sa-sîhtawipitahk kotaka wâsênamâna.

6. When morning arrived the whole area adjacent to our cabin was covered with a thick blanket of grass, sticks, leaves and branches.

6. ê-wâpahk êkwa sôskwâc misiwê cîki wâsakâm ê-pimastêki maskosiya, mistikwa, nîpiya êkwa watihkwana.

7. That was how strong the wind blew

7. êkosi anima êyikohk ê-kî-isi-misi-yôtihk. êyikohk ê-kî-sohkiyôwêk mâna êkospî.
Artist: Artist Dave Kessler
Pelican painted by Artist Dave Kessler, Sculptor unknown.

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