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Ishi, Last of His Tribe
The Yahi, a Native American tribe, lived peacefully in California for hundreds of years--until they were violently wiped out by the invading white man in the late 1800s. Only a few bold Yahi escaped into hiding, among them the man who became known as Ishi, and this is the story of how they survived over the course of 40 years of hiding.
Soon, one by one, the last of the Yahi died--until Ishi was left alone, the sole survivor of a proud people. When Ishi stumbled into a small California mining town, the world learned his true story for the first time. This is the incredible story of the last hunter of the Yahi tribe, and how he brought to "civilization" all the courage, faith and strength of the Yahi Way of Life.
Soon, one by one, the last of the Yahi died--until Ishi was left alone, the sole survivor of a proud people. When Ishi stumbled into a small California mining town, the world learned his true story for the first time. This is the incredible story of the last hunter of the Yahi tribe, and how he brought to "civilization" all the courage, faith and strength of the Yahi Way of Life.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
20 people are currently reading
824 people want to read
About the author
Theodora Kroeber
30 books22 followersTheodora Kroeber was an American writer and anthropologist, best known for her accounts of several Native Californian cultures. Born in Denver, Colorado, Kroeber grew up in the mining town of Telluride, and worked briefly as a nurse. She attended the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), for her undergraduate studies, graduating with a major in psychology in 1919, and received a master's degree from the same institution in 1920.
Married in 1920 and widowed in 1923, she began doctoral studies in anthropology at UC Berkeley. She met anthropologist Alfred Louis Kroeber during her studies, and married him in 1926. One of her two children with Kroeber was the writer Ursula K. Le Guin. The Kroebers traveled together to many of Alfred's field sites, including an archaeological dig in Peru, where Theodora worked cataloging specimens. On their return, Alfred encouraged Theodora to continue her graduate work, but she declined, feeling she had too many responsibilities.
Kroeber began writing professionally late in her life, after her children had grown up. She published The Inland Whale, a collection of translated Native Californian narratives in 1959. Two years later she published Ishi in Two Worlds, an account of Ishi, the last member of the Yahi people of Northern California, whom Alfred Kroeber had befriended and studied between 1911 and 1916. This volume sold widely and received high praise from contemporary reviewers. Retrospective reviews were more mixed, noting Kroeber's unflinching portrayal of Californian colonization but criticizing her perspective on Ishi's treatment.
Nine years after Alfred's death in 1960, Theodora Kroeber married artist John Quinn. Kroeber published several other works in her later years, including a collaboration with her daughter Ursula and a biography of Alfred Kroeber. She served as a regent of the University of California for a year before her death in 1979. She has been described as having influenced her husband's anthropological work, and as having inspired interest in indigenous culture through Ishi in Two Worlds. A 1989 biography stated that her "great strength was as an interpreter of one culture to another".
Married in 1920 and widowed in 1923, she began doctoral studies in anthropology at UC Berkeley. She met anthropologist Alfred Louis Kroeber during her studies, and married him in 1926. One of her two children with Kroeber was the writer Ursula K. Le Guin. The Kroebers traveled together to many of Alfred's field sites, including an archaeological dig in Peru, where Theodora worked cataloging specimens. On their return, Alfred encouraged Theodora to continue her graduate work, but she declined, feeling she had too many responsibilities.
Kroeber began writing professionally late in her life, after her children had grown up. She published The Inland Whale, a collection of translated Native Californian narratives in 1959. Two years later she published Ishi in Two Worlds, an account of Ishi, the last member of the Yahi people of Northern California, whom Alfred Kroeber had befriended and studied between 1911 and 1916. This volume sold widely and received high praise from contemporary reviewers. Retrospective reviews were more mixed, noting Kroeber's unflinching portrayal of Californian colonization but criticizing her perspective on Ishi's treatment.
Nine years after Alfred's death in 1960, Theodora Kroeber married artist John Quinn. Kroeber published several other works in her later years, including a collaboration with her daughter Ursula and a biography of Alfred Kroeber. She served as a regent of the University of California for a year before her death in 1979. She has been described as having influenced her husband's anthropological work, and as having inspired interest in indigenous culture through Ishi in Two Worlds. A 1989 biography stated that her "great strength was as an interpreter of one culture to another".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
June 26, 2018
A beautiful story of Ishi's life for young adults. I wish I had read something like this, as a child, in school. Basically, the only schooling I had on Native Americans, growing up, was the First Thanksgiving narrative. If every school child read this book I think it could lead to a more understanding and kind culture. I certainly would have enjoyed this more than The Red Badge of Courage we were all forced to read. Did anyone enjoy that book?!
Theodora Kroeber writes beautifully and the story flows well. Her writing really helped me to feel a connection with Ishi and his family. Ishi's grief and loneliness, following the deaths of every last member of his family, is strongly felt. A powerful story, which won't be lost to history, thanks to Theodora Kroeber.
Ishi made a drawing...It was a picture-map of the Yahi world. When it was finished, Ishi asked, "You could tell the story of the Old Ones? You could make a book?"....."I will speak the Tongue; you will write much Yahi. The Old Ones will live in a book." 85 Ishi
The saldu (white) Gods and the saldu Heroes are beyond the understanding of a Yahi. They are clever, much cleverer than Jupka and Kaltsuna and the Yahi Heroes. They give their People wheels, quick-fire, and the strong iron and steel for making tools; they give them many, many good things...But it seems to me they do not much care that their People should be wise. They seem not to have set a Way - a clear Way-for the saldu to follow. 207 Ishi
Theodora Kroeber writes beautifully and the story flows well. Her writing really helped me to feel a connection with Ishi and his family. Ishi's grief and loneliness, following the deaths of every last member of his family, is strongly felt. A powerful story, which won't be lost to history, thanks to Theodora Kroeber.
Ishi made a drawing...It was a picture-map of the Yahi world. When it was finished, Ishi asked, "You could tell the story of the Old Ones? You could make a book?"....."I will speak the Tongue; you will write much Yahi. The Old Ones will live in a book." 85 Ishi
The saldu (white) Gods and the saldu Heroes are beyond the understanding of a Yahi. They are clever, much cleverer than Jupka and Kaltsuna and the Yahi Heroes. They give their People wheels, quick-fire, and the strong iron and steel for making tools; they give them many, many good things...But it seems to me they do not much care that their People should be wise. They seem not to have set a Way - a clear Way-for the saldu to follow. 207 Ishi
December 1, 2009
Ishi, which means man, died in 1916 without ever telling anyone his real name. In 1911 he stumbled out of the wilderness of northern California, sick and malnourished. He ended up spending his last years living in a museum at the University of California as a sort of living exhibit. This book tells the story of his life from his point of view. It is mostly how he and his tribe lived and his life after going to the museum to live. He tells how things changed as the white men came to the area & then wiped out his village. His tribe, the Yami, was reduced to his grandparents, uncle, mother, a female cousin, another young man,and himself.
The rhythms of this book is well suited to the story it tells. While it is fictionalized with conversations, etc, it is based on historical fact and Ishi's life. It left me feeling sad that anyone should have to deal with the tragedies this man experienced, but worse than that, the experiences he never had.
The rhythms of this book is well suited to the story it tells. While it is fictionalized with conversations, etc, it is based on historical fact and Ishi's life. It left me feeling sad that anyone should have to deal with the tragedies this man experienced, but worse than that, the experiences he never had.
July 30, 2015
Picture that you lived in a forest and every man, plant and animal was destroyed except you. Someone unfamiliar picks you up and tries to find what you are all about while integrating you back into your world which appears destroyed wherever you tread. Picture yourself now in the same world in which you are the only one who knows that it's fake and destroyed. If you can accept that then you are ready to read ISHI!
There will be no more ISHI's from North American for many millenium's.
The explanation of the relationship Kroeber and Ishi are superb and I cried through most of this book.
A book about Ishi was required reading for a project I worked on for the Cherokee tribe. Reading this book was the most important part of the project!
There will be no more ISHI's from North American for many millenium's.
The explanation of the relationship Kroeber and Ishi are superb and I cried through most of this book.
A book about Ishi was required reading for a project I worked on for the Cherokee tribe. Reading this book was the most important part of the project!
September 12, 2012
This book is a beautiful writing of the story of Ishi. I had to set it aside at one point as his family died and he was left alone. I was concerned he would be tortured. The book is one showing how Ishi mad the best of a terrible situation.
May 10, 2024
Reviewed: March 20, 2016
Going into this book, and being at least somewhat aware of the current mindset of society versus, well, any time before now in regards to Native American cultures, I braced myself for an objectifying read, despite the blurb ending, “a credible picture of a brave boy, a loyal son, a proud man; and, above all, a loving, gentle, dignified individual.”
I am happy to say that Ishi’s story is told in such a way that is respectful, it feels honest, it is not demeaning, and portrays him in what came across to me as a pure, non-objectified light. The writing style did take me a bit to warm up to (probably because I had just come off reading a contemporary urban fantasy…), but it soon took on a life of its own. The tone was a blend of traditional storytelling -- or at least, what I assume to be a style particular to traditional oral storytelling -- and a more contemporary flow:
It was time for the spring run of salmon, for green clover, for deer to be returning from the mountain with their newborn fawns; time for the old earth to shake off its snow blanket and begin a New Year for its People.
But there was ice in the canyon where Sun did not reach; there were no deer, no green buds, no clover. Mother scraped the bottom of the food baskets which had been full at harvest time. Timawi and Ishi put out more trap lines; they dug with sticks into burrows; they brought home what they could—a snow bird, a field mouse, a chipmunk—for Mother to put into her stew, made now of the last of the acorns, which tasted old and stale.
--page 48
In the above example, we get a taste of that blend, of oral storytelling and written storytelling, and how Mrs. Kroeber blended the two. She honored the Yahi way of storytelling – so far as we can be sure, at least—while also made it fuller, filling in what might not be said in an oral telling to give us a more complete picture of the ensemble of events.
The entire story was told from Ishi and the Yahi People’s point of view, and even Ishi’s descriptions of the strange objects of the saldu (white man) exemplified a respect for how he perceived these unknown, foreign objects and sounds. Too often in literature these descriptions take on a tone as such that the Native American seems inferior because of not knowing how a white person might describe the same object. However, with Mrs. Kroeber and Ishi’s telling, it is clear that Ishi is describing the saldu’s objects based on his own knowledge and understanding of the world; Ishi is not painted in any way as inferior for not knowing how a saldu would describe the same objects. His way of viewing the world is just different, and that difference is, if not celebrated, appreciated and respected.
As one by one Ishi’s people, the last of the Yahi, faded away (with no lack of tears on my part for each depart…), leaving Ishi as truly the Last, in the midst of my sadness for the suffering that they endured because of the callous saldu who did not have even a remotely similar understanding of the land and its life and rhythms (frankly, often their actions had me disgusted at how uncaring and ignorant they were), I began to fear how the tone might change for his entry into the world of the saldu. We know from the book description that Ishi stumbles into a California mining town around 1911, and that from his experiences thereafter Mrs. Kroeber drew her material to write this book as well as an anthropological study of Ishi, his People the Yahi, and his life among them and then among the saldu. I was afraid that once Ishi came into the world of the white man, the tone of the telling of his story would finally put him in a place of inferiority, as the saldu world is not his, and he would have much to learn about it.
Thankfully, my fears were unrealized, and Mrs. Kroeber stayed true to being respectful of Ishi, his story, and his way of viewing the world and learning. There were many opportunities where she could have demeaned Ishi in the work he took on at the museum-watgurwa, but she did not. Instead, she portrayed his experiences as not only of learning for him, but also how he was able to share his knowledge of the Yahi Way and customs with not only the museum employees and attendees, but also in a more direct way with children, to whom he would teach some of the Way. She gave him a role of teacher, instead of as student, told his story true, and so honored his dignity as a fellow human being.
All in all, this is a refreshing read, one that returns the dignity of the Yahi People to them, and implies the unjustified callousness with which they were treated by the saldu which led directly to the Yahi People, among many others, taking the Trail to the Edge of the World far too soon and in too great of numbers.
Yet for all that, it is also a celebration of the Yahi Way of Life, of showing the dignity with which the Yahi lived, the communion they had with the natural world, and the strong bonds they held with each other even through the worst of times. It makes me want to read the anthropological study that Mrs. Kroeber also wrote of Ishi and the Yahi, Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America, to get the more scientific side of things as well.
Update: As of May 2024, I have now read Ishi in Two Worlds, and it was most definitely a worthwhile and riveting read.
Typos:
Drving his elbows… -- page 4 – “Drving” should be “Driving”
…and where the deep pools in which trout hid. – page 64 – “trout hid were.”
…in a dark cave, hiding And these things… -- page 65 – missing period after “hiding”
…My Younger Son s Wife… -- page 79 – missing the apostrophe in “Son’s”
…with other ba kets most like them…. Here…. They ar yours….” – page 178 – Missing the ‘s’ in basket and ‘e’ in are.
There were a few more typos like these scattered throughout the book, missing punctuation and letters – I think these are more of a printing errors than editing ones, though.
Going into this book, and being at least somewhat aware of the current mindset of society versus, well, any time before now in regards to Native American cultures, I braced myself for an objectifying read, despite the blurb ending, “a credible picture of a brave boy, a loyal son, a proud man; and, above all, a loving, gentle, dignified individual.”
I am happy to say that Ishi’s story is told in such a way that is respectful, it feels honest, it is not demeaning, and portrays him in what came across to me as a pure, non-objectified light. The writing style did take me a bit to warm up to (probably because I had just come off reading a contemporary urban fantasy…), but it soon took on a life of its own. The tone was a blend of traditional storytelling -- or at least, what I assume to be a style particular to traditional oral storytelling -- and a more contemporary flow:
It was time for the spring run of salmon, for green clover, for deer to be returning from the mountain with their newborn fawns; time for the old earth to shake off its snow blanket and begin a New Year for its People.
But there was ice in the canyon where Sun did not reach; there were no deer, no green buds, no clover. Mother scraped the bottom of the food baskets which had been full at harvest time. Timawi and Ishi put out more trap lines; they dug with sticks into burrows; they brought home what they could—a snow bird, a field mouse, a chipmunk—for Mother to put into her stew, made now of the last of the acorns, which tasted old and stale.
--page 48
In the above example, we get a taste of that blend, of oral storytelling and written storytelling, and how Mrs. Kroeber blended the two. She honored the Yahi way of storytelling – so far as we can be sure, at least—while also made it fuller, filling in what might not be said in an oral telling to give us a more complete picture of the ensemble of events.
The entire story was told from Ishi and the Yahi People’s point of view, and even Ishi’s descriptions of the strange objects of the saldu (white man) exemplified a respect for how he perceived these unknown, foreign objects and sounds. Too often in literature these descriptions take on a tone as such that the Native American seems inferior because of not knowing how a white person might describe the same object. However, with Mrs. Kroeber and Ishi’s telling, it is clear that Ishi is describing the saldu’s objects based on his own knowledge and understanding of the world; Ishi is not painted in any way as inferior for not knowing how a saldu would describe the same objects. His way of viewing the world is just different, and that difference is, if not celebrated, appreciated and respected.
As one by one Ishi’s people, the last of the Yahi, faded away (with no lack of tears on my part for each depart…), leaving Ishi as truly the Last, in the midst of my sadness for the suffering that they endured because of the callous saldu who did not have even a remotely similar understanding of the land and its life and rhythms (frankly, often their actions had me disgusted at how uncaring and ignorant they were), I began to fear how the tone might change for his entry into the world of the saldu. We know from the book description that Ishi stumbles into a California mining town around 1911, and that from his experiences thereafter Mrs. Kroeber drew her material to write this book as well as an anthropological study of Ishi, his People the Yahi, and his life among them and then among the saldu. I was afraid that once Ishi came into the world of the white man, the tone of the telling of his story would finally put him in a place of inferiority, as the saldu world is not his, and he would have much to learn about it.
Thankfully, my fears were unrealized, and Mrs. Kroeber stayed true to being respectful of Ishi, his story, and his way of viewing the world and learning. There were many opportunities where she could have demeaned Ishi in the work he took on at the museum-watgurwa, but she did not. Instead, she portrayed his experiences as not only of learning for him, but also how he was able to share his knowledge of the Yahi Way and customs with not only the museum employees and attendees, but also in a more direct way with children, to whom he would teach some of the Way. She gave him a role of teacher, instead of as student, told his story true, and so honored his dignity as a fellow human being.
All in all, this is a refreshing read, one that returns the dignity of the Yahi People to them, and implies the unjustified callousness with which they were treated by the saldu which led directly to the Yahi People, among many others, taking the Trail to the Edge of the World far too soon and in too great of numbers.
Yet for all that, it is also a celebration of the Yahi Way of Life, of showing the dignity with which the Yahi lived, the communion they had with the natural world, and the strong bonds they held with each other even through the worst of times. It makes me want to read the anthropological study that Mrs. Kroeber also wrote of Ishi and the Yahi, Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America, to get the more scientific side of things as well.
Update: As of May 2024, I have now read Ishi in Two Worlds, and it was most definitely a worthwhile and riveting read.
Typos:
Drving his elbows… -- page 4 – “Drving” should be “Driving”
…and where the deep pools in which trout hid. – page 64 – “trout hid were.”
…in a dark cave, hiding And these things… -- page 65 – missing period after “hiding”
…My Younger Son s Wife… -- page 79 – missing the apostrophe in “Son’s”
…with other ba kets most like them…. Here…. They ar yours….” – page 178 – Missing the ‘s’ in basket and ‘e’ in are.
There were a few more typos like these scattered throughout the book, missing punctuation and letters – I think these are more of a printing errors than editing ones, though.
Read
April 13, 2025I read this book in the 90s prior to the time when Ishi’s brain was returned to the Redding Rancheria.
September 9, 2019
Five stars is in the eye, the mind, the emotions, and the judgment of the reader. Two days ago I had never heard of Ishi, which I find odd in that he belonged/belongs to California the way that I do. Not that I know everything just because I was born and raised here, but still, I am puzzled about how I could never have heard of him until I saw the book that carries this line after his name "- A biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America. "
The book is in two parts. The first - pre-1911 and the Indian tribe that survived around the foothills of Mt. Lassen, and post-1911, Ishi, the last surviving Indian comes to San Francisco and the bay area. Both parts are arresting in what they give the reader. There was never a time that I willingly put the book aside to do something else - like eat dinner or go to bed. I stayed up half the first night, and then didn't bother the next day to get dressed until I finished the book.
The writer brings Ishi to life, so much so that when Ishe, after five years of living in "civilization" falls seriously ill from tuberculosis and is not expected to live, tears jumped out of my eyes. I credit the writer for this, because she truly has brought the reader a story of a slice of humanity that has not really been much in our understanding of the "whites and indians" part of our history.
So as not to surprise the reader, I did find myself less than 100% interested in some of the early pages where linguistics were under discussion, but I simply read on because there is so much more story to come.
After the book ended and I composed myself, I looked on the internet to see if Ishi, whose body was cremated and placed in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Colma near San Francisco was still there. I expected so, but thought to check. I learned that his brain had been sent before his cremation to the Smithsonian Institute. In 2000, the Smithsonian, at the request of a present-day indian organization, determined Ishi’s closest relations were the Redding Rancheria and Pit River Tribe, and the ashes and brain were returned to them for burial in a unknown but safe place.
Such a story.
The book is in two parts. The first - pre-1911 and the Indian tribe that survived around the foothills of Mt. Lassen, and post-1911, Ishi, the last surviving Indian comes to San Francisco and the bay area. Both parts are arresting in what they give the reader. There was never a time that I willingly put the book aside to do something else - like eat dinner or go to bed. I stayed up half the first night, and then didn't bother the next day to get dressed until I finished the book.
The writer brings Ishi to life, so much so that when Ishe, after five years of living in "civilization" falls seriously ill from tuberculosis and is not expected to live, tears jumped out of my eyes. I credit the writer for this, because she truly has brought the reader a story of a slice of humanity that has not really been much in our understanding of the "whites and indians" part of our history.
So as not to surprise the reader, I did find myself less than 100% interested in some of the early pages where linguistics were under discussion, but I simply read on because there is so much more story to come.
After the book ended and I composed myself, I looked on the internet to see if Ishi, whose body was cremated and placed in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Colma near San Francisco was still there. I expected so, but thought to check. I learned that his brain had been sent before his cremation to the Smithsonian Institute. In 2000, the Smithsonian, at the request of a present-day indian organization, determined Ishi’s closest relations were the Redding Rancheria and Pit River Tribe, and the ashes and brain were returned to them for burial in a unknown but safe place.
Such a story.
February 20, 2016
Ishi, Last of His Tribe is, as the title suggests, the true story of Tehna-Ishi, the last of the Yahi tribe of Northern California. During the days of the gold rush, white men flocked to California and killed all of the Yahi except for Ishi's family. Ishi grows up knowing only six other people who all cling to the Yahi Way of Life. It isn't long before Ishi is the lone survivor.
Theodora Kroeber beautifully honors Ishi and his culture in her book. She knew him personally, and her husband made it his mission to document and preserve the Yahi Way. Ishi died one hundred years ago in 1916, having shared all he could with the Kroeber family and others at the University of California, Berkeley.
As you can guess, the book is very old, and is not nearly as exciting as it would have been if it were written today. At times I found it had to push through, and even though it's rather short, it took me a while to complete it. Still, I found the story very intriguing, and Ishi's culture fascinating. Having grown up in the Midwest, I only every learned about the cultures of Indian tribes who lived on the Great Plains. I recommend this book to lovers of Native American culture and survival stories. The old illustrations reminded me of My Side of the Mountain.
Theodora Kroeber beautifully honors Ishi and his culture in her book. She knew him personally, and her husband made it his mission to document and preserve the Yahi Way. Ishi died one hundred years ago in 1916, having shared all he could with the Kroeber family and others at the University of California, Berkeley.
As you can guess, the book is very old, and is not nearly as exciting as it would have been if it were written today. At times I found it had to push through, and even though it's rather short, it took me a while to complete it. Still, I found the story very intriguing, and Ishi's culture fascinating. Having grown up in the Midwest, I only every learned about the cultures of Indian tribes who lived on the Great Plains. I recommend this book to lovers of Native American culture and survival stories. The old illustrations reminded me of My Side of the Mountain.
November 16, 2009
Spending every childhood summer at Dad's mother's place in Lake Charter Township, Michigan, led to the reading of many books left there by her or by the stream of family friends who would visit. There was no telephone, no phonograph, no tape machine, no television. Reading, conversation, card playing and radio were the only sources of amusement inside the house. Consequently, I read a lot and until I started earning money to buy my own books, I read on a catch as catch can basis.
Ishi was one of grandmother's books and a fortunate find. The story of the last survivor of an Amerind people was very moving. Unfortunately, it was only much later in life that I got out to California to experience the environment in which he lived.
Ishi was one of grandmother's books and a fortunate find. The story of the last survivor of an Amerind people was very moving. Unfortunately, it was only much later in life that I got out to California to experience the environment in which he lived.
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January 31, 2009I really, really, really loved this book. I wish it was still part of the curriculum in California public schools. May Waganupa always stand tall and may we never forget the gentle people that lived around her. And the sorrow that Ishi must have felt, having lost his entire world and everyone related to him, is such a deep sorrow that I can never fathom it.
October 19, 2018
Very good read. Should be read by all Americans. You can easily imagine these tragedies happening again and again in what would become the US. Honestly, the first part of the book is probably the saddest thing I've read. Things become more acceptable in the second part.
March 25, 2008
I don't know how, or why, but this book popped into my head, and I happened to remember the title!
I'd like to re-read this!
I'd like to re-read this!
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December 11, 2025I love hearing the family and their names. Mother is Wakara. Grandfather. Grandmother who laughed almost as much as Tushi. elder Uncle, who decides where we may hunt and fish and what to do to keep the salt do from finding them. Father, who was here. Timawe who is sad, is from the village of Bushki. Tushi who is Ishi cousin, much a sister to Ishi.
Ishi had to encounter and a saldu rode to their village. Ishi had never seen a four footer horse. They thought they were Dawana, crazy. One of them seemed to be the head man. The saldu had scalp at their belts. The saldu showed a pouch full of Bright dust which is in our creeks. For what purpose do saldu want this dust? Ishi did not know. Ishi thought if it is the dust they wish he will direct their feet to the south where there is much more in the streams than here. Ishi showed the head man a cave where they slept the evening and drink a tea. That they seem to like very much. The head man and his people were assholes and were there for gold. elder uncle and younger son, which was Izzy‘s father followed them to be sure they did not return the next morning. They went out of sight over the ridge, but after a while, we heard a distant boom. Of one of their fire sticks. The sanyu group had killed a Loan person from banya Creek, which is further down. is she father was killed by the Sanyu.
Father was killed by an ambush from 20 Saldu on the village where ishi born. Father put mother and ishi behind the house and was killed after killing many saldu by Bow.
Tim Maui passed after he ambushed A Sanya tribe. Ishi had to take to ancestor cave and go home. Tushi knew once seeing ishi and didn’t say a word. He went to uncle fishing and his uncle was so sweet. She rubbed his hand over his face. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was drawn, pale and thin. Elder Uncle was crying now, not trying to hide his tears. You were wise beyond the moons of your life, my son. I should not have let our friend go to the mountain, but it seemed the canyon could no longer hold him. Soon he will be at the campfire of his people and Bushki.
Also, it is so sweet. How ishi feels about Tushi his cousin. He says. She may no longer be young in moons., But my cousin is to me as she has always been. Her cheeks keep the toy on very color and her hair is smooth and shining as when grandmother rolled it for her and she walked straight in light a foot as is the way of Yahi woman and her voice is soft as the quail- sigaga sigaga she calls to me.
Since many moons we go together when we are away from wowunupo. If I hunt, she goes over the hill and does a woman’s task until the kill is made. We gather acorns together and firewood, and we plan together each day where we shall go, and what we shall do she fills the moons of my days. They were hiding in the bear cave at this time.
When he was in the museum and looking at all the baskets, he spotted baskets from his cave that were stolen. He says the cave, of wow is in them!. He traced with a finger, the design woven into one of them. This is the fern stem. It came from round meadow. This is Iris. The little one, and I found it across the creek, high up. The little one becomes part of the soul, the world, even as I. Amazing that later in his life at the museum I’m he finds the artifacts of his family that were stolen.
Ishi became family somewhat to the museum director, I believe his son named kiwi. Joined him all the time at the museum. Is she called him maliwal and considered him as a brother. He said this slim wanna see looks to me, the old one, the wise one, as I once looked to elder Uncle. And, when he shoots his bow, the arrow goes beyond the target, from this world of the monster, to the ancient Yahi world. The ark of the arrow brings the two worlds together. Ishi integrated into the museum as family. Trusted. And built so many things that are displayed to this day.
It was very touching when maliwal and Majapa the director ishi went to his home. Majapa asked whether he wish to stay. Ishi shook his head. No I do not wish to stay. It is dead here. Ishi waved his arms toward Waapa and the hills. Only the dead bones of the Yahi are here. It is with you I speak the tongue. Your dream and mine and the little lost ones (Tushi) meet at the edge of the world (San Fransisco) which is part Salado and part ya hi. He’s basically saying that his home is at the museum now.
If she said something very wise, and he said that the saldu are very bright and they give their people wheels, quick fire, and the strong iron and steel for making tools. They give them many, but it seems to me they do not much care that their people should be wise. They seem not to have set away, a clear way, for the saldu to follow. It seems very wise this being said in 1910ish. The last page you don’t like me.
Ishi had to encounter and a saldu rode to their village. Ishi had never seen a four footer horse. They thought they were Dawana, crazy. One of them seemed to be the head man. The saldu had scalp at their belts. The saldu showed a pouch full of Bright dust which is in our creeks. For what purpose do saldu want this dust? Ishi did not know. Ishi thought if it is the dust they wish he will direct their feet to the south where there is much more in the streams than here. Ishi showed the head man a cave where they slept the evening and drink a tea. That they seem to like very much. The head man and his people were assholes and were there for gold. elder uncle and younger son, which was Izzy‘s father followed them to be sure they did not return the next morning. They went out of sight over the ridge, but after a while, we heard a distant boom. Of one of their fire sticks. The sanyu group had killed a Loan person from banya Creek, which is further down. is she father was killed by the Sanyu.
Father was killed by an ambush from 20 Saldu on the village where ishi born. Father put mother and ishi behind the house and was killed after killing many saldu by Bow.
Tim Maui passed after he ambushed A Sanya tribe. Ishi had to take to ancestor cave and go home. Tushi knew once seeing ishi and didn’t say a word. He went to uncle fishing and his uncle was so sweet. She rubbed his hand over his face. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was drawn, pale and thin. Elder Uncle was crying now, not trying to hide his tears. You were wise beyond the moons of your life, my son. I should not have let our friend go to the mountain, but it seemed the canyon could no longer hold him. Soon he will be at the campfire of his people and Bushki.
Also, it is so sweet. How ishi feels about Tushi his cousin. He says. She may no longer be young in moons., But my cousin is to me as she has always been. Her cheeks keep the toy on very color and her hair is smooth and shining as when grandmother rolled it for her and she walked straight in light a foot as is the way of Yahi woman and her voice is soft as the quail- sigaga sigaga she calls to me.
Since many moons we go together when we are away from wowunupo. If I hunt, she goes over the hill and does a woman’s task until the kill is made. We gather acorns together and firewood, and we plan together each day where we shall go, and what we shall do she fills the moons of my days. They were hiding in the bear cave at this time.
When he was in the museum and looking at all the baskets, he spotted baskets from his cave that were stolen. He says the cave, of wow is in them!. He traced with a finger, the design woven into one of them. This is the fern stem. It came from round meadow. This is Iris. The little one, and I found it across the creek, high up. The little one becomes part of the soul, the world, even as I. Amazing that later in his life at the museum I’m he finds the artifacts of his family that were stolen.
Ishi became family somewhat to the museum director, I believe his son named kiwi. Joined him all the time at the museum. Is she called him maliwal and considered him as a brother. He said this slim wanna see looks to me, the old one, the wise one, as I once looked to elder Uncle. And, when he shoots his bow, the arrow goes beyond the target, from this world of the monster, to the ancient Yahi world. The ark of the arrow brings the two worlds together. Ishi integrated into the museum as family. Trusted. And built so many things that are displayed to this day.
It was very touching when maliwal and Majapa the director ishi went to his home. Majapa asked whether he wish to stay. Ishi shook his head. No I do not wish to stay. It is dead here. Ishi waved his arms toward Waapa and the hills. Only the dead bones of the Yahi are here. It is with you I speak the tongue. Your dream and mine and the little lost ones (Tushi) meet at the edge of the world (San Fransisco) which is part Salado and part ya hi. He’s basically saying that his home is at the museum now.
If she said something very wise, and he said that the saldu are very bright and they give their people wheels, quick fire, and the strong iron and steel for making tools. They give them many, but it seems to me they do not much care that their people should be wise. They seem not to have set away, a clear way, for the saldu to follow. It seems very wise this being said in 1910ish. The last page you don’t like me.
August 17, 2022
Took me years to get the nerve to read this book, as it is still sad and tragic to think how whole tribes of people were eliminated by the European invasion and settlement of America. One by one, thanks to the disruption and the deliberate genocide by the saldu (white men), Ishi lost members of his family until he was the last of his tribe. The rocky hills and steep ravines became a strange and hostile place. And that was over 100 years ago, before western “civilization,”—our way of life-- polluted the creeks and destroyed the fish.
For Ishi, the saving grace for the last half of his life was that he found purpose at the museum, teaching and preserving the Yahi way of life in northern California. While not easy to picture their world today, even with the line drawings of the rocks and animals, the book shows how we can still learn much from their simple, conservation approach to daily life and the use of the bounty of nature. To make baskets that hold water, hunt and fish and dry and store the meat, to wear a bracelet of sweetgrass that means as much as an engagement ring, to have men’s and women’s lodges and pass on the customs of the tribe, to be able to sit and meditate by a creek and have animals come up to you. It is still possible with much patience and respect to the Creator and our fellow creations.
Many thanks to Ishi and to the author Theodora Kroeber for this sensitive, detailed portrait. May we somehow, with the help and wisdom of today’s indigenous peoples, find our way back to some of what we have lost.
For Ishi, the saving grace for the last half of his life was that he found purpose at the museum, teaching and preserving the Yahi way of life in northern California. While not easy to picture their world today, even with the line drawings of the rocks and animals, the book shows how we can still learn much from their simple, conservation approach to daily life and the use of the bounty of nature. To make baskets that hold water, hunt and fish and dry and store the meat, to wear a bracelet of sweetgrass that means as much as an engagement ring, to have men’s and women’s lodges and pass on the customs of the tribe, to be able to sit and meditate by a creek and have animals come up to you. It is still possible with much patience and respect to the Creator and our fellow creations.
Many thanks to Ishi and to the author Theodora Kroeber for this sensitive, detailed portrait. May we somehow, with the help and wisdom of today’s indigenous peoples, find our way back to some of what we have lost.
October 10, 2020
This is more a scholarly work than i had hoped, but that's probably a wonderful thing for those who need such a work to further their understanding of ethnography, etc. Ishi's story was something that I was taught in grade school and - strangely - something that stuck with me into adulthood. I finally sought this book out some years back, then shelved it for a time when I felt as though reading it were just the ticket. It took longer than I might have imagined, but I eventually got there. His story is no less sad than I recall, though at times it's uplifting and hopeful as well. Ishi, last of the Yana Yahi, embraced a world that - realistically - was responsible for the downfall of his own, and all he had known. In that, I feel a renewed sense of shame in the way our ancestors treated the Native American inhabitants of this 'new' world. Even so, Ishi made it his business to acknowledge the importance of conveying all that he knew of his eliminated tribe. And history is all the better for it, if for no simpler reason than we comprehend the cruelty that was imparted upon more primitive individuals that were seen as something less than what they were: human beings living on a planet with other human beings.
February 23, 2018
I am rereading this old classic book about the norther California Indians, one small group in particular, the Yahi. The lived in the foothills,to the south of Mount Lassen and followed the life ways common to California Indians, making use of all the seasonal foods available. They had the misfortune to live in part of what became Gold Rush country and the entire population was nearly wiped out by deliberate murder, not infraction as was so often the case. Is his tiny family band survived a number of years staying nearly invisible to the white people. Ultimately, he was the only survivor and was essentially " collected" by Alfred and Theodora Kroeber who brought him to University of California, Berkeley, where he spent out most of his remaining life.
He provided the richest possible resource of information about the original life ways,of these people.
He provided the richest possible resource of information about the original life ways,of these people.
September 3, 2021
This is a story that's really unique as far as I can tell because I haven't found any others like it. We get to hear from the last surviving Indian of the Yahi tribe. It is sad and there is no way around that fact. But it's a story that happened for most native American tribes yet we don't get to hear many of them. It provides a perspective from a situation that may never happen again.
The writing is in English but written as Ishi himself thinks and spoke using his own language. So it has a different style to it that may seem simplistic but it has to be this way to convey the way he thought. So read it and be transported to the situation Ishi was in and walk with him for the last days of his civilization.
The writing is in English but written as Ishi himself thinks and spoke using his own language. So it has a different style to it that may seem simplistic but it has to be this way to convey the way he thought. So read it and be transported to the situation Ishi was in and walk with him for the last days of his civilization.
October 25, 2025
Something, I'm sure, if I'd read this when I was younger, I wouldn't have had the proper appreciation for it. It's one of those books that adults feel kids should read, but they don't have the correct brain development and experience to appreciate it as an adult.
I enjoyed reading, from a Native American's perspective, how they lived. How they navigated people invading their land. Their homes. Their way of life, and ultimately killing them off (regardless if they meant to or not).
I enjoyed it. It did, at some points, kind of put me to sleep reading it. Not in a bad way. It has its moments of informative and of "action". Both I enjoyed. It was something kind of peaceful. When they were in nature, enjoying it's beauty, it's easy to be there in it, and want to nap there! Lol
I enjoyed reading, from a Native American's perspective, how they lived. How they navigated people invading their land. Their homes. Their way of life, and ultimately killing them off (regardless if they meant to or not).
I enjoyed it. It did, at some points, kind of put me to sleep reading it. Not in a bad way. It has its moments of informative and of "action". Both I enjoyed. It was something kind of peaceful. When they were in nature, enjoying it's beauty, it's easy to be there in it, and want to nap there! Lol
April 24, 2019
A stunning reminder of how modern 'America' was actually built on the back of an organised program of stealing aboriginal land and murdering the original inhabitants of the North American continent. The book is written by the wife of the anthropologist who took this 'last Native Indian' in to his museum in San Francisco, years after most of his compatriots had been killed.
Ultimately, the anthropologist discovered that the 'savage' he'd rescued from starving to death was a far more refined human being than the 'enlightened' new Americans who were studying him. I couldn't put this book down until I finished it - and yes, it made me cry.
Ultimately, the anthropologist discovered that the 'savage' he'd rescued from starving to death was a far more refined human being than the 'enlightened' new Americans who were studying him. I couldn't put this book down until I finished it - and yes, it made me cry.
October 26, 2023
Enjoyed this book a lot and I feel like it's important for Californians to read this story to better understand that something very sacred was lost when the settlers killed the native Californians and destroyed their culture, language, and history.
I know that this is historical fiction and Kroeber did not meet Ishi, but I appreciated her restraint in imagining his story. She could have tried to inject extra drama and created complex storyline, but just Ishi living with the last few of his family and village felt realistic and was enough for readers to understand the tragedy of what happened to him and his people.
I know that this is historical fiction and Kroeber did not meet Ishi, but I appreciated her restraint in imagining his story. She could have tried to inject extra drama and created complex storyline, but just Ishi living with the last few of his family and village felt realistic and was enough for readers to understand the tragedy of what happened to him and his people.
September 9, 2018
This book has some parts that become pretty tedious and trite. But it was written by the wife of the man who most befriended Ishi after he decided to leave the Yani world. So it has some authenticity to it. It's relatively short but seems long. Disappointed we never found out what happened to his sister. I've been meaning to read this book since I was a kid. Now that I'm done it's a little anticlimactic. But it has piqued my interest and I kinda want to go see the museum in SF where he lived and Oroville.
August 29, 2024
Heart rending book as Ishi is one of 7 surviving members of his Native American tribe. Sensitively told story of the three generations as they navigate the last years of their tribe, hiding from the saldu, the white men who gradually take over their world. The ways of the Yahi people are beautifully described, the ways that they blend in with the natural world, the ways that they attract and hunt animals and fish, the ways that they handle major life changes and challenges.
Ishi is the last to survive and to share knowledge of Yahi ways to the modern white people who discover him in 1911.
Ishi is the last to survive and to share knowledge of Yahi ways to the modern white people who discover him in 1911.
February 12, 2025
I cannot completely explain how this book made me feel. To be able to read a part of Ishi's life and his culture, which is thanks to him that we get to know, makes me wanna cry. The way he wants his traditions to be preserved and to have a space in the museum because unless there would be no memory of it.
There was a part when I was even told to stop reading because of how sad it made me, but i'm glad i didn't because later he gets to meet the "good saldu", which his Elder Uncle told him about, who would help him overcome, in some way, of the sadness of losing his family.
There was a part when I was even told to stop reading because of how sad it made me, but i'm glad i didn't because later he gets to meet the "good saldu", which his Elder Uncle told him about, who would help him overcome, in some way, of the sadness of losing his family.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2017
For anyone who has been to the Shasta or Lassen area of California, this novel offers a special view of what native life could have been like before contact with industrial America. Subsequently, it also depicts a somewhat sad image of how the last of the natives disappeared from the face of the land.
Beautifully written for the novice reader, one might recommend this book to a classroom teacher with the intention of developing awareness about the history of our indigenous ancestors.
Beautifully written for the novice reader, one might recommend this book to a classroom teacher with the intention of developing awareness about the history of our indigenous ancestors.
January 26, 2018
I read this in the early 70s when I lived in San Francisco Bay area, very close to Berkley where Ishi lived his last years. His tribe's plight has stuck with me all these years. I truly wish there was something I could do about our Native Americans lives today. Seems that our government for hundreds of years has relegated them down and keeps them where others can't see them. Poor Native American counties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserva...
January 30, 2018
I read this book when I was in high school, a long time ago, in a land far, far away. I can remember being quite saddened by the subject matter. If you can get your hands on it, I would recommend reading it.
I was reading an obituary of Ursula K. Le Guin and the author of Ishi, Theodora Kroeber is her mother.
I was reading an obituary of Ursula K. Le Guin and the author of Ishi, Theodora Kroeber is her mother.
December 7, 2019
Lo leí gracias a la recomendación que Ursula K. Le Guin hace en su maravilloso libro Contar es escuchar, en el relato Tíos indios. Está escrito por su madre y es un testimonio que se debería conocer, la última tribu...como Ishi queda como último superviviente...y como los "palos de fuego" robaron la tierra a sus habitantes.
January 5, 2020
The first part of this book describes the conflicts leading to the death of all but one member of the Yahi tribe. Then we learn how he settled in at the museum in San Francisco and found friends and contentment. Can you imagine living in a world where no one speaks your language? I wonder how many other people in the last 5 centuries have been the last, and died alone in hiding.
June 23, 2025
This was an excellent short book to read and learn of Ishi. I wasn't aware of him or his story and now I'm grateful to have read this book. Throughout were beautiful illustrations. While it was dark a good amount of times there was a peaceful and hopeful side as the story ends. I highly recommend it.
October 12, 2017
Really glad I read this. It was on my shelf for years, but I had avoided it because it seemed so tragic. It is tragic, but definitely worth reading. Also, Theodora Kroeber is Ursula K. Le Guin's mother so it was interesting to think about how Kroeber's experience may have influenced Le Guin.
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