Okla-homey
8/29/2007, 06:05 AM
August 29, 1911: Stone Age man discovered in California.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/6375/ishi3tg.gif
96 years ago on this day in 1911, "Ishi," described as the last surviving Stone Age Indian in the contiguous United States, was discovered in California.
By the first decade of the 20th century, whites from Europe had so overwhelmed the North American continent that scarcely any Indians remained who had not been assimilated into its society to some degree. Ishi appears to have been something of an exception. Found lost and starving near an Oroville, California, slaughterhouse, he was largely unfamiliar with white ways and spoke no English.
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/4871/poorishi38mw.jpg
Frightened and bewildered, Ishi was photographed shortly after his discovery
Authorities took the mysterious Indian into custody for his own protection. News of the so-called "Stone Age Indian" attracted the attention of a young Berkeley anthropologist named Thomas Waterman. Gathering what partial vocabularies existed of northern California Indian dialects, the speakers of which had mostly vanished, Waterman went to Oroville to meet the Indian.
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/24911/2001500008947670057_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001500008947670057)
Thomas Waterman (standing right) and his University of California Anthropology Department colleagues
After unsuccessfully hazarding words from several dialects, Waterman tried a few words from the language of the Yana Indians. Some were intelligible to Ishi, and the two men were able to engage in a crude dialogue. The following month, Waterman took Ishi to live at the UC-Berkeley museum, where their ability to communicate gradually improved.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/1658/ishiwbowsarrows4fk.gif
Researchers were able to learn a great deal about pre-historic culture by studying Ishi's skills
Waterman eventually learned that Ishi was a Yahi Indian, an isolated branch of the northern California Yana tribe. He was approximately 50 years old and was apparently the last of his people. Ishi said he had wandered the mountains of northern California for some time with a small remnant of the Yahi people. Gradually, accident or disease had killed his companions. A white man murdered his final male companion, and Ishi wandered alone until he reached Oroville.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/3930/ishi3dl.jpg
For five years, Ishi lived at the Berkeley Museum. He and Waterman became close friends, and he spent his days describing his tribal customs and demonstrating his wilderness skills in archery, woodcraft, and other traditional techniques. He learned to understand and survive in the white world, and enjoyed wandering the Bay area communities and riding on the trolley cars. Eventually, though, Ishi contracted tuberculosis. He died on March 25, 1916, at an estimated age of 56. His body was cremated according to the customs of his people.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/2480/ishi20ay.jpg
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5874/insane7zo6hy.jpg
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/6375/ishi3tg.gif
96 years ago on this day in 1911, "Ishi," described as the last surviving Stone Age Indian in the contiguous United States, was discovered in California.
By the first decade of the 20th century, whites from Europe had so overwhelmed the North American continent that scarcely any Indians remained who had not been assimilated into its society to some degree. Ishi appears to have been something of an exception. Found lost and starving near an Oroville, California, slaughterhouse, he was largely unfamiliar with white ways and spoke no English.
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/4871/poorishi38mw.jpg
Frightened and bewildered, Ishi was photographed shortly after his discovery
Authorities took the mysterious Indian into custody for his own protection. News of the so-called "Stone Age Indian" attracted the attention of a young Berkeley anthropologist named Thomas Waterman. Gathering what partial vocabularies existed of northern California Indian dialects, the speakers of which had mostly vanished, Waterman went to Oroville to meet the Indian.
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/24911/2001500008947670057_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001500008947670057)
Thomas Waterman (standing right) and his University of California Anthropology Department colleagues
After unsuccessfully hazarding words from several dialects, Waterman tried a few words from the language of the Yana Indians. Some were intelligible to Ishi, and the two men were able to engage in a crude dialogue. The following month, Waterman took Ishi to live at the UC-Berkeley museum, where their ability to communicate gradually improved.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/1658/ishiwbowsarrows4fk.gif
Researchers were able to learn a great deal about pre-historic culture by studying Ishi's skills
Waterman eventually learned that Ishi was a Yahi Indian, an isolated branch of the northern California Yana tribe. He was approximately 50 years old and was apparently the last of his people. Ishi said he had wandered the mountains of northern California for some time with a small remnant of the Yahi people. Gradually, accident or disease had killed his companions. A white man murdered his final male companion, and Ishi wandered alone until he reached Oroville.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/3930/ishi3dl.jpg
For five years, Ishi lived at the Berkeley Museum. He and Waterman became close friends, and he spent his days describing his tribal customs and demonstrating his wilderness skills in archery, woodcraft, and other traditional techniques. He learned to understand and survive in the white world, and enjoyed wandering the Bay area communities and riding on the trolley cars. Eventually, though, Ishi contracted tuberculosis. He died on March 25, 1916, at an estimated age of 56. His body was cremated according to the customs of his people.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/2480/ishi20ay.jpg
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5874/insane7zo6hy.jpg