 Thoughts of Ishi
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The man who would be called Ishi |
Ishi's voice credit:
IRENE.lbl.gov and the
Hearst Museum
October 18, 2000
Ishi, the last of
his tribe
While going through a stack
of newspapers today
that had been held for us
while we had been away,
I came across this story
which is personally
very close to my heart:
Last of the Yahi
Indians is finally
coming home for proper burial
by Michelle Locke
It was a brief story about
the man called Ishi,
his life and death and his
final return to California.
This latest chapter in the
story of Ishi,
touched me nearly as deeply
as had the book
and the movie about
this remarkable man.
Ishi's voice was
recorded on
wax cylinders
by Professor Kroeber and can be heard at the
Museum of Natural History
in Santa Barbara.
If you are ever near this area,
the chance to hear
this recording will make
your visit unforgettable.
Even though it is quite old
and not modern technology,
Ishi's heart and soul come
through loud and clear.
He was to many of us, a
last, sad look at the kind
of men who had once
inhabited this country freely;
a proud, defiant man whose
life was tragically changed
by those who came to steal
his land in search of gold.

Ishi with Dr. Kroeber in 1911
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When Ishi wandered out of
the woods in 1911 in search of food,
he was captured by ones who
would take him to Alfred Kroeber,
the Professor of
Anthropology at UC Berkeley in California.
This historical meeting and
the events that followed,
would change both of their
lives forever.
You may learn more about
Ishi
at these Berkeley web sites:
Introduction to the man called Ishi
The
Yana and the Yahi
Ishi before the Museum
Ishi at the Musuem
A UCSF web site:
Ishi:
The Last Yahi
The brief time that these
two men spent together,
before Ishi's untimely
death, presumably due to
consumption, or as we now
know it, tuberculosis,
would
leave a legacy for those who would
study California
Natives and Anthropology to
study and decipher for
many years to come.
Sadly, after his death in
1916, Ishi was subjected to an autopsy,
an act that he reviled due to his
spiritual beliefs
and had made quite clear to
those around him,
that he never wanted
performed on him.
However, in the absence of
his friend and mentor,
Professor Kroeber, the
hideous autopsy was performed
and Ishi's brain was
removed and sent away.
After many years and much
searching, Ishi's brain
was recently discovered in
a jar in the Smithsonian,
where many other
American Native remains are kept as well.
Their defense for this
abhorrent, massive bone and
tissue collection, was to assure a representative
warehouse from a wide variety
of species of animals?
Human and otherwise?
Now, Ishi's brain has made
the long trip back
to Northern California,
where it will be buried in
a secret place, along
with his cremated remains.
At last Ishi has come home
and hopefully will be allowed
to walk in peace once
again with his family and ancestors,
unmolested by curious
outsiders.
The final meaning and full
worth of this man's life
and tragic death will be
left for the ages to determine.
Peace Ishi

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