From: John Grigg (starman2100@lycos.com)
Date: Wed Nov 06 2002 - 10:34:24 MST
Ron h. wrote:
I will probably bolax up the story but around the time of WWI a very
primitive indian came wandering into civilization. Maybe someone remembers his name. Some professors in your University system got him in tow and eventually figured out most of his story.
(end)
You might be thinking of Ishi, the sole survivor of the Yahi people. "Ishi: Last of His Tribe" is considered a classic book by many due to its very poignant story. There is no question in my mind it was one of the best books I read while in my late teens. I have copied here some excellent recommendations for it from Amazon.com.
I hope everyone who reads this post will read the book.
John
I got the following from Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553248987/qid=1036603133/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-3241518-5816839?v=glance&s=books
Ishi, the last of his tribe: NOT the "last wild indian", October 24, 2001
Reviewer: Karen Garcia from Napa, CA United States
I've read this historical novel aloud to both "regular" fifth graders and to Special Education children. All of them have become entranced with Kroeber's wonderful descriptions of day-to-day Yahi life, and with Ishi's tragic story. The fact that Ishi was a real person made it even more tangible to them. This story is undoubtedly romanticized, but it describes life as it probably really was for a small surviving group of California Indians during the encroachment of the "Saldu" (foreigners). They try valiantly to retain the vestiges of their very complex culture, but tragedy inevitibly ensues. The majority of the book describes Ishi's life before he personally came in contact with the White people he has feared and from whom he has hidden during most of his life. It's difficult to find books that accurately describe Native American life pre-contact, in a way that is understandable to young children. I highly recommend this book, especially if you can tie in some of the recent co
ntroversy about Ishi's brain, which was removed from his body for study after his death (against his explicit wishes) and was only recently repatriated to Native California people. It's a great lead-in for a discussion about Native People's rights in modern America.
Karen Garcia
A must-read for all American citizens., March 11, 1999
Reviewer: Ishi Niyama Hayes (ihayes@sau36.org) from New Hampshire
I first decided to read this book because I was named after Ishi, and I wanted to find out why. When I finally read Kroeber's novel, I was struck with a mixed sense of pride at being able to identify with such an honest, spiritual, and kind-hearted man; disgust at how ignorantly and inexcusably the white man in power treated Ishi's people, and hence has continued to treat Native Americans throughout this country; and awe at the beauty and grace with which Kroeber writes. I am also a high school English teacher in a rural New England town. I teach this novel, and am continually struck by its ability to speak to teenagers who, for the most part, are not aware of this component of American history. Though the novel is partly fictional, as we cannot truly know, for instance, the conversations that Ishi had in the "watgurwa" with his elders as a teenage boy, Kroeber reveals to us a story based on very real, and very human, events. We read about the unwavering respect for the natural
world that is so inherent in Yahi culture, and so lacking in modern American culture. We see Ishi's growth from a boy to a man as he takes on the important reponsibilities of feeding and protecting his family. We also watch as innocent Yahi are killed with the white man's "firesticks" so that their scalps can be cut off and exchanged for money. Every American citizen should know what happened to Ishi and his people; for it is American history at its best, and, unfortunately, at its worst.
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