Native Inhabitants of the Northern California Region - Essay Example

?CALIFORNIA HISTORY In relating the history of California, the Yahi community is a major feature. Before the 1848-1855 California Gold Rush this group had a population of about 400. The Yahi was a group of the larger Yana people. These were the native inhabitants of the Northern California region. The gold rush saw the influx of people into the region, and the Native Americans found they were under pressure in their home. The native populations decreased at an alarming rate due to the destruction of natural resources. In the process of mining gold, water resources were damaged and the fish which the natives fed on died. Other game such as deers which were a source of food also left because of the increasing human population. Under this strain, the native population moved deeper into the forest areas as their numbers diminished. In 1911, however, a man belonging to this tribe emerged from the Mount Lassen region. Since he did not have a name the anthropologists named him Ishi. He was the last man of the Yana tribe. The story of Ishi is fundamental in the history of California since it gives the roots of the people in that region. It has, however, been said that retelling of the story by anthropologists such as Theodora are attempts to elicit sympathy for the Native American population. The Native American tribes that have since gone extinct are described as ignoble savages. They are believed to have had no art, religion, technology or government that warranted them to be called a culture. They are thought by some people to have been unworthy inhabitants of California region since they did not develop the natural resources of the place. This, in my opinion, is a mistaken view of the Native American. This tribe was a victim of old age and illness from within their society, and violence from without. Their numbers diminished until the only one was left. This essay considers the account of the last man of this group. This essay will give evidence of these people being more than just a group of savages, by analysing the way of life they had. Many definitions have been given for culture. It may however be defined as a way of life for people. It encompasses the way of life people have, and is dependent on the ability for the people to learn, and pass on knowledge to generations to follow. Culture takes into account the ability to learn. When Ishi came into contact with civilization, he was able to be integrated. He learnt their behavioural patterns, and started to act like one of them. This shows that these natives had the ability to learn. The only difference is that what he had to learn in his society was different from the things he could learn from the civilized world. Ishi was a man of Stone Age culture but that made him no less of a human being. The customs of the Yana separated males and females. At a tender age they were cared for by their mothers but at the age of ten, the separation was implemented. Boys and girls were then neither allowed to sleep, or play together. The boys left with their fathers or any other male relative so as to learn the necessary skills. This differentiation based on gender roles makes the Yana a society that understood what sex roles meant. This was a vital feature of their culture. The separation of the sexes was to the extent that male and female dialects of the language were different (Kroeber and Kroeber). Life and death was sacred to these people as evidenced by the practices they kept. When someone died, they were burnt and the remains buried under a rock. This marked the grave, and kept the animals away from the bones. This practice of burning the dead is still practiced in today’s society. The reasons are different though for this. They had their own way of acknowledging life and death. They realized the different genders and assigned societal roles along the same lines. Claiming that these people did not have aspects of life that warranted them to be a culture is a mistaken view. Art varies from society to the next. The Yahi community had a different kind of Art that whites had a hard time appreciating. Making fire with sticks, and making arrowheads out of flint were some of the artwork that the Yahis developed. When Ishi was found, he had a canvas around his shoulders that served as his covering. Since hunting was a means of getting food for the Yahis, they made arrows to help them in this activity. After meeting with Ishi, Waterman showed him some arrows. Ishi became excited and showed how to make them. This was a crafts that was seemingly carried down generations for the sake of their survival. The Yahi people were involved in occupations that involved nature. They used nature to their advantage without exploiting it. They were miners, farmers, rancher, and shopkeepers. Their contact with the environment around them was an intimate one. Referring to the natives as a lazy Stone Age digger Indians was incorrect, and degrading. The Yana community were miners. They mined resources from the environment only as they needed to. The whites, however, mined all they could from their land for their advantage. They were hunters, and they did this as a means of getting food and sustenance (Rice, Bullough and Orsi). The whites on the other hand were bounty hunters. They hunted, not because they needed to, but for the fun of it. These people used the natural resources to their advantage; therefore the claim that lived primarily by plundering their neighbours is unfounded. When the Whites landed in California, they began mining the gold that was there. They were a people who believed that any people with skin darker than theirs were inferior to them. When they encountered the Yanas this was the perception they had. They took their children and sold them off as slaves for cheap labour. The numbers of the whites who were arriving was increasing by the day, and soon the Yanas found themselves outnumbered by the invaders. The Whites also came with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, influenza, dysentery, typhoid, malaria which affected the Yanas. The women of this tribe were raped, and taken away as concubines (Rice, Bullough and Orsi). To avenge for these deeds, the Yanas started attacking the white people. Revenge was the only motivation that the Yanas had for fighting with the whites. In retaliation, the white people attacked the camps of the Yana people, carried out mass killings, and the only ones that remained were the Yahis. While engaging in their various activities, the natives believed in preserving the land. The land of California was bountiful with resources like minerals, game, birds, forests, and water (Kroeber and Kroeber). The natives realized that this land was essential for their survival so whatever it had to offer, they used sparingly. When the whites came to the land, all these resources they wanted to use to their advantage. They could use these resources to make money and become more powerful. At first the natives welcomed them since they (natives) were a hospitable people. On realizing that the whites had come with veiled intentions, then the two groups could no longer agree. The white man came to the new environment spreading Christianity. There were others who were explorers, and others who were simply looking for adventure. When they came into contact with the native community of California, they were welcomed without hesitation. The whites started to kill birds for pleasure during bounty hunting. To them, the minerals that were plenty in the land were also a source of income. They started mining it for their own good, not caring the impact this had on the environment. The natives, being a people who were concerned with preserving the environment for future generations, became unsettled with the behaviour of the visitors. In addition, there was introduction of diseases that were new to the natives. These natives did not have antidotes for these new diseases which killed people fast. The only medicine they had is that which came from plants in their surroundings. Diseases like measles and tuberculosis were highly contagious and killed the people fast because of the conditions they lived in. Due to the fatality of the diseases, the local herbalists did not have time to come up with an antidote for the illnesses. The population of the local people was drastically reduced. As a result, when they were involved in battle with the white settlers, they have a weak force with which to advance their cause. This made their situation difficult since their weapons were crude compared to the sophisticated weapons of the white man. They had spears and arrows which could be doused with poison for increased efficiency in battle. The white man, on the other had, had guns which could kill more people than the arrows and spears. The creeping in of civilization on the native tribes was inevitable. The white man was exploring the world, and finding new places to settle. The spread of Christianity was also a driving force to the incoming of the whites. They wanted to spread this religion to increased numbers so that they could agree with them. As they followed on doing this, they brought their civilization to the natives. The manner in which it was forced upon these natives was, however, unnecessary and just. They had rights to the land since they were the owners. By forcing them out of their own land and making it mandatory that they adopt a new way of life was uncalled for. This is why the Native Americans won the case against the state to have their land restored to them. Whether or not Ishi had a name is a mystery. Even after improving his English vocabulary he did not reveal his Yahi name. He, however, was able to share more stories about his life as a Yahi but his name was never known. Having not shared his Yahi name is no proof of him not having a name in his native Yahi language. When discovered, Ishi wore his hair burnt to signify that he was mourning. Later, he revealed that he was mourning the death of his sister. He was integrated into the civilized world with the help of a translator, and was able to learn how to communicate. It is after this that most of the stories that reveal the history of California were told. Works Cited Kroeber, Theodora and Karl Kroeber. Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004. Print. Rice, Richard, William A. Bullough and Richard J. Orsi. The Elusive Eden: A New History of California. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1996. Print. Read More