Storehouse for nuts and acorns, thatched with pine branches, points downward, to keep out mice and squirrels.
They are gathered in the fall when ripe and are preserved for future use in the old style Indian cache or storehouse. This consists of a structure which they call a chuck´-ah, which is a large basket-shaped receptacle made of long willow sprouts closely woven together. It is usually about six feet high and three feet in diameter. It is set upon stout posts about three feet high and supported in position by four longer posts on the outside, reaching to the top, and there bound firmly to keep them from spreading. The outside of the basket is thatched with small pine branches, points downward, to shed the rain and snow, and to protect the contents from the depredations of squirrels and woodpeckers. When filled, the top also is securely covered with bark, as a protection from the winter storms. When the acorns are wanted for use, a small hole is made at the bottom of the chuck´-ah, and they are taken out from time to time as required.
The acorns from the black or Kellogg's oak (Quercus Californica) are considered much the best and most nutritious by the Indians. This is the oak which is so beautiful and abundant in the Yosemite Valley.
These acorns are quite bitter, and are not eaten in their natural condition, as most fruit and nuts are eaten, but have to be quite elaborately prepared and cooked to make them palatable. First, the hull is cracked and removed, and the kernel pounded or ground into a fine meal. In the Yosemite Valley and at other Indian camps in the mountains, this is done by grinding with their stone pestles or metats (may-tat´s) in the ho´yas or mortars, worn by long usage in large flat-top granite rocks, one of which is near every Indian camp. Lower down in the foothills, where there are no suitable large rocks for these permanent mortars, the Indians used single portable stone mortars for this purpose.
Photo of Hoyas and Metats
Photograph by Fiske.
HO´-YAS AND ME-TATS´.
Rude mortars and pestles for grinding acorn meal. The holes have
been worn in the granite by constant use.
After the acorns are ground to a fine meal, the next process is to take out the bitter tannin principle. This is done in the following manner: They make large shallow basins in clean washed sand, in the center of which are laid a few flat, fan-like ends of fir branches. A fire is then made near by, and small stones of four or five pounds in weight are heated, with which they warm water in some of their large cooking baskets, and mix the acorn meal with it to the consistency of thin gruel. This mixture is poured into the sand basins, and as the water leaches out into the sand it takes with it the bitter quality—the warm water being renewed until all the bitter taste is washed out from the meal sediment, or dough.
This is then taken, and, after being cleansed from the adhering sand, is put into cooking baskets, thinned down with hot water to the desired condition, and cooked by means of hot stones which are held in it with two sticks for tongs. The mush, while cooking, is stirred with a peculiar stirring stick, made of a tough oak sprout, doubled so as to form a round, open loop at one end, which is used in lifting out any loose stones. When the dough is well cooked, it is either left en masse in the basket or scooped out in rolls and put into cold water to cool and warden before being eaten. Sometimes the thick paste is made into cakes and baked on hot rocks. One of these cakes, when rolled in paper, will in a short time saturate it with oil. This acorn food is probably more nutritious than any of the cereals.
The Indian dogs, of which every family had several, are as fond of the acorn food as their owners. These dogs are made useful in treeing wild-cats, California lions and gray squirrels, and are very expert in catching ground squirrels by intercepting them when away from their burrows, and when the Indians drown them out in the early spring by turning water from the flooded streams into their holes.
As far as can be learned, dogs were about the only domestic animals which the Yosemites, and other adjacent tribes of Indians, kept for use before the country was settled by the white people.
Pine nuts were another important article of food, and were much prized by the Indians. They are very palatable and nutritious, and are also greatly relished by white people whenever they can be obtained. The seeds of the Digger or nut pine (Pinus Sabiniana) were the ones most used on the western side of the Sierras, although the seeds of the sugar pine (P. Lambertiana) were also sometimes eaten. On account of their soft shell, nuts from the pinon pine (P. monophylla), which grows principally on the eastern side of the mountains, were considered superior to either of the other kinds, and were an important article of barter with the tribes of that region. All of these trees are very prolific, and their crop of nuts in fruitful years has been estimated to be even greater than the enormous wheat crop of California, although of course but a very small portion of it is ever gathered. Many other kinds of nuts and seeds were also eaten.
The principal berries used by the Indians of Yosemite and tribes lower down in the foothills were those of the manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca). They are about the size of huckleberries, of a light brown color, and when ripe have the flavor of dried apples. They are used for eating, and also to make a kind of cider for drinking, and for mixing with some food preparations. Manzanita is the Spanish for "little apple," and this shrub, with its rich red bark and pale green foliage, is perhaps the most beautiful and most widely distributed in California. Strawberries, black raspberries, elderberries, wild cherries and the fruit of the Sierra plum (Prunus subcordata) are also used by the Indians, but wild edible berries are not as plentiful in California as they are in the Atlantic States.
In addition to the staple articles of food already mentioned, many other things were eaten when they could be obtained. These included grasshoppers, certain kinds of large tree worms, the white fungi which grows upon the oak, mushrooms, and the larvae and pupae of ants and other insects. The pupae of a certain kind of fly which breeds extensively on the shores of Mono Lake, about forty miles from Yosemite, was an important article of commerce across the mountains, and was made into a kind of paste called ka-cha´-vee, which is still much relished by the Indians, and is a prominent dish at their feasts.
The manner of catching grasshoppers was to dig a large hole, somewhat in the shape of a fly trap, with the bottom larger than the opening at the top, so that the insects could not readily get out of it. This hole was dug in the center of a meadow, which was then surrounded by Indians armed with small boughs, who beat the grasshoppers towards a common center and drove them into the trap. A fire was then kindled on top of them, and after they had been well roasted they were gathered up and stored for future use.
Photo of a Wood Gatherer
Photograph by Fiske.
A WOOD GATHERER.
As in all Indian tribes, the women do most of the work.
Other articles of food were various kinds of roots, grasses and herbage, some of which were cooked, while others were eaten in their natural condition. The lupine (Lupinus bicolor and other species), whose brilliant flowers are such a beautiful feature of all the mountain meadows in the spring and summer, was a favorite plant for making what white people would call "greens," and when eaten was frequently moistened with some of the manzanita cider already referred to. Among the roots used for food were those of the wild caraway (Carum), wild hyacinth (Brodioea), sorrel (Oxalis), and camass (Camassia esculenta).
The Indians of this region, in common with most, if not all, of the North American aborigines, were of a highly religious temperament, most devout in their beliefs and observances, and easily wrought upon by the priests or medicine men of their tribes. Elaborate ceremonies were carried out, in which all of the details were highly symbolical, and some of their curious and picturesque superstitions were responsible for acts of cruelty and vengeance, which in many cases were foreign to their natural disposition.
Dancing was an important part of all religious observances, and was practiced purely as a ceremonial, and never for pleasure or recreation. Both men and women took part, the men executing a peculiar shuffling step which involved a great deal of stamping upon the ground with their bare feet, and the women performing a curious sideways, swaying motion. Some of the dancers carried wands or arrows, and indulged in wild gesticulations. They usually circled slowly around a fire, and danced to the point of exhaustion, when others would immediately take their places. The ceremony was accompanied by the beating of rude drums, and by a monotonous chant, which was joined in by all the dancers.
The great occasions for dancing were before going to war, and when cremating the bodies of their dead. The war dance was probably the most elaborate in costume and other details, and of recent years the Indians have sometimes given public exhibitions of what purported to be war dances, but these performances, like everything else which they do from purely mercenary motives, are very poor imitations of the originals, and it is doubtful if they have ever allowed a genuine war dance to be witnessed by white men.
The various tribes in the vicinity of Yosemite Valley are accustomed to hold a great meeting or festival once a year, each tribe taking its turn as hosts, and the others sometimes coming from considerable distances. At these meetings there are dances and other ceremonials, and also a grand feast, for which extensive preparations are made. Another feature of the occasion is the presentation of gifts to the visiting tribes, consisting of money, blankets, clothing, baskets, bead-work, or other valuable articles. These presents, or their equivalent, no matter how small they may be, are always returned to the givers at the next annual festival, together with additional gifts, which, in turn, must be given back the following year, and so on.
At these gatherings an Indian is appointed to secure and keep on hand a good supply of wood for the camp fires, and every day he spreads a blanket on the ground and sits on it, and the other Indians throw money, clothing, or other contributions, into the blanket, to pay him and his assistants for their services. At other times this man acts as a messenger or news carrier—first spreading his blanket to collect his fees, and then starting off on his mission.
Many of the Indians in Mariposa and adjoining counties were polygamists, having two or three, and sometimes more, wives. Some of the chiefs and head men would have wives from several of the adjacent tribes, which had a tendency to establish permanent friendly relations among them.
Every man who took a young woman for his wife had to buy her. Young women were considered by their parents as personal chattels, subject to sale to the highest suitable bidder, and the payment of the price constituted the main part of the marriage ceremony. The wife was then the personal property of the husband, which he might sell or gamble away if he wished; but such instances were said to be very rare. In case negotiations for a marriage fell through, the preliminary payments were scrupulously returned to the rejected suitor by the parents.
Even a widow, independent of control in the matter of marriage, if she consented to become a man's wife, received some compensation herself from her intended husband.
Photo of a Young Yosemite
Photograph by Dore.
A YOUNG YOSEMITE.
It is said that in their marital relations they were as a rule strictly faithful to each other. If the woman was found to be guilty of unfaithfulness to her husband, the penalty was death. Such a thing as a man whipping or beating his wife was never known. Whipping under any circumstances was considered a more humiliating and disgraceful punishment than death.
Even in the management of children, whipping was never resorted to as punishment for disobedience. In fact, children were always treated in such a kind, patient, loving manner, that disobedience was a fault rarely known. The pre-natal maternal influence, and subsequent treatment after birth, were such that they were naturally patient and readily submissive to kind parental control.
In recent years, under the influence and examples often seen in what is called civilized life, Indian husbands have been known to beat their wives, and mothers to whip their children.
Photo of Lena and Virgil
Photograph by Boysen.
LENA AND VIRGIL.
The canopy of the baby basket is called Cho-ko´-ni and the Royal Arches, from their resemblance to it, have also received this name from the Indians.
At the time of the settlement of California by the whites, every Indian tribe had its professional doctors or medicine men, who also acted as religious leaders. They were the confidential counselors of the chiefs and head-men of the tribes, and had great influence and control over the people. They claimed to be spiritual mediums, and to have communication with the departed spirits of some of their old and most revered chieftains and dear friends, now in a much more happy condition than when here in earthly life. They were thought to be endowed with supernatural powers, not only in curing all diseases (except those due to old age), but also in making a well person sick at their pleasure, even at a distance; but when their sorcery failed to work on their white enemies and exterminate them, they lost the confidence of their followers to a large extent.
With the invasion of the white settlers came forced changes in their old customs and manner of living, and a new variety of epidemic and other diseases. When a doctor failed to cure these diseases, and several deaths occurred in quick succession in a camp, they believed the doctor was under the control of some evil spirit, and killed him.
After the Indians were given their freedom from the reservations in 1855, the old ones, subdued and broken-hearted, sickened and died very fast, and most of the men doctors were killed off in a few years. There are none known who now attempt to act in that capacity.
There are still some women doctors who continue to practice the magic art, but as there are now but very few Indians, there is not so much sickness, and very few deaths in a year, so that the doctors very rarely forfeit their lives by many of their patients dying in quick succession.
Their most common mode of treatment in cases of sickness was to scarify the painful locality with the sharp edge of a piece of obsidian, and suck out the blood with the mouth. In cases of headache, the forehead was operated on; in a case of colic the abdomen was treated in the same way, as were also all painful swellings on any part of the body.
The grand object of the doctor was to make the patient and family firmly believe that his course of treatment was removing the cause of the sickness. To aid in strengthening this belief, after diagnosing the case, and before commencing operations, he would quietly retire for a short time, ostensibly to get under the influence of the divine healing spirit, but in reality to fill his mouth with several small articles, such as bits of wood or stone; he was then ready to commence treatment. After sucking and spitting pure blood a few times, he began to spit out with the blood, one after another, the things he had in his mouth, at the sight of which all the attendants would join in a chorus of grunts of astonishment, and the doctor would pretend to be very much nauseated. In most ordinary cases two or three treatments effected a cure.
The doctors also made use of certain rare medicinal plants in treating some diseases. The Indian women have great faith in charms made of the pungent roots of some rare plants from the high mountain ranges, which they wear on strings around their necks, or on a string of beads, to protect them from sickness.
In cases of malignant sores or ulcers on any part of the body, the doctors treated them by applying dirt or earth, and in warm weather would excavate a place in the ground and put the patient in it, either in a sitting or recumbent position, as the nature of the case required, and cover the affected part with earth for several hours, daily. Sometimes, by this mode of treatment, wonderful cures were made.
In all cases, if a doctor failed to cure a disease, and the patient died, he was obliged to refund to the relatives any fee which he had received for his services.
In the early days of the settlement of California, it seemed to be the universal custom of the Indians along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range of mountains to burn the bodies of their dead.
A suitable pile of readily combustible wood was prepared. The body was taken charge of by persons chosen to perform the last sacred rites, and firmly bound in skins or blankets, and then placed upon the funeral pyre, with all the personal effects of the deceased, together with numerous votive offerings from friends and relatives. The chief mourners of the occasion seemed to take but little active part in the ceremonies. When all was ready, one of the assistants would light the fire, and the terrible, wailing, mournful cry would commence, and the professional chanters, with peculiar sidling movements and frantic gestures, would circle round and round about the burning pile. Occasionally, on arriving at the northwest corner of the pile, they would stop, and, pointing to the West, would end a crying refrain by exclaiming "Him-i-la´-ha!" When these became exhausted, others would step in and take their places, and thus keep up the mournful ceremony until the whole pile was consumed.
After the pile had cooled, the charred bones and ashes were gathered up, a few pieces of bone selected, and the remainder buried. Of the pieces retained, some would be sent to distant relatives, and the others pounded to a fine powder, then mixed with pine pitch and plastered on the faces of the nearest female relatives as a badge of mourning, to be kept there until it naturally wore off. Every Indian camp used to have some of these hideous looking old women in it in the "early days."
One principal reason for burning the bodies of the dead was the belief that there is an evil spirit, waiting and watching for the animating spirit or soul to leave the body, that he may get it to take to his own world of darkness and misery. By burning the perishable body they thought that the immortal soul would be more quickly released and set free to speed to the happy spirit world in the El-o´-win, or far distant West, while with their loud, wailing cries the evil spirit was kept away.
The young women take great care of their long, shiny, black hair, of which they all feel very proud, as adding much to their personal beauty, and they seldom have it cut before marriage. But upon the death of a husband the wife has her hair all cut off and burned with his body, so that he may still have it in his future spirit home, to love and caress as a memento of his living earth-wife.
Photo of Old Kalapine
Photograph by Boysen.
OLD KALAPINE.
One of the oldest Indians in the Valley. The short hair is a
badge of widowhood.
These Indians believe that everything on earth, both natural and artificial, is endowed with an immortal spirit, which is indestructible, and that whatever personal property or precious gifts are burned, either with the body or in later years for the departed friend's benefit, will be received and made use of in the spirit world. In recent years the Yosemites and other remnants of tribes closely associated with them, have adopted the custom of the white people, and bury their dead. The fine, expensive blankets, and most beautifully worked baskets, which have been kept sacredly in hiding for many years, to be buried with the owner, are now cut into small fragments before being deposited in the ground, for fear some white person will desecrate the grave by digging them up and carrying them away.
There are no people in the world who more reverence for their dead, or hold memory more sacred, than these so-called "Digger" Indians. After being released from the reservations they kept themselves in abject poverty for many sacrificing their best blankets, baskets and clothing in the devouring flames of a fire kindled for that purpose, when holding their annual mourning festivals in memory of their dead friends.
The old Indians are all very reticent regarding their religious beliefs. They hold them too sacred to be exposed to possible ridicule, and it is therefore very difficult to get information from them by direct questions.
They seem, however, to have a vague, indistinct belief or tradition that their original ancestors, in the long forgotten past, dwelt in a better and much more desirable country than this, in the El-o´-win, or distant West, and that by some misfortune or great calamity they were separated from that nappy land, and became wanderers in this part of the world. They also believe that the spirits of all good Indians will be permitted, after death, to go back to that happy country of their ancestors' origin; but that the spirits of bad Indians have to serve another earth life in the form of a grizzly bear, as a punishment for their former crimes. Hence, no Indians ever eat bear meat if they know it.
All the old Indians are spiritualists, and very superstitious in their religious beliefs. One special tenet is that if one of their relatives or friends has been murdered, he will not receive them on terms of friendship in the spirit world unless they revenge his death, by either killing the murderer or some one of the same blood. This belief sometimes results in an entirely innocent person being put to death.
They all have a great fear of evil spirits, which they believe have the power to do them much harm and defeat their undertakings. They also have a fairly distinct idea of a Diety or Great Spirit, who never does them any harm, and whose home is in the happy land of their ancestors in the West.
Photo of Yosemite Basketry
Photograph by Boysen.
YOSEMITE BASKETRY.
The Ellen Boysen collection of baskets and bead work.
The Yosemites and other kindred or adjacent tribes have been branded as "Diggers," and are generally thought to be the lowest class of Indians in America, but in some lines of artistic work they excelled all other tribes. For example, their basketry work, for domestic and sacred purposes, and their bows and arrows, were of very superior workmanship and fine finish.
Many years ago the chief industry of the Indian women, aside from their other domestic duties, was the making of baskets. They made a great variety of shapes and sizes for their common use, and also many of a more artistic design and finer finish for the sacred purpose of being burned or buried with their bodies, or that of some relative or dear friend, after death. The baskets devoted to this special purpose are the finest made, but are very seldom seen by any white person, and are not for sale at any price. This finest style of work seems to have been made a specialty by certain of the most artistic workers in each tribe.
Photo of Baskets
MRS. JORGENSEN'S COLLECTION OF BASKETS.
For the mythical origin of basket-making in the Yosemite see
"Legend of To-tau-kon-nu´-la and Tis-sa´-ack."
At the present time, in their more modern style of living, they do not require so many baskets, and the industry of making them is fast on the decline. Some of the old women, however, still continue to make such as are required for their own use, and a few others for sale.
Most of the ornamental figures and designs worked into the finest basketry are symbolical in character, and of so ancient an origin that Indians of the present day do not know what many of them are intended to represent. They have simply been copied from time immemorial, with the idea that they were necessary for the complete finish and beauty of the article made.
In recent years they sometimes make use of more modern styles of ornamentation, which they see in print.
Photo of Indian Bead Work
Photograph by Fiske.
INDIAN BEAD WORK.
Mrs. George Fiske's collection of Yosemite and Pai-ute´ bead
work.
Many of the young women are now giving their attention to making fancy bead work, in the form of ornamental belts and hat-bands, but this is an industry of very modern origin. Some of them are employed by white people to do laundry and other work, and any labor of this kind pays them better than making baskets for sale. Forty years ago a finely made basket could have been bought for less than ten dollars. At present, if the time spent in getting and preparing the necessary materials, and in working them into the basket, were paid for at the same rate per day that a young woman receives for doing washing in the hotel laundry, or for private families, it would amount to over one hundred dollars.
Most of the baskets made for domestic use are so closely woven that they are practically water-tight, and are used for cooking and similar purposes. Over on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, near the dry, desert country, the Indians make some of their baskets in the form of jugs of various sizes. These are smeared over with a pitch composition, which renders them perfectly water-tight, and they are used for carrying water when traveling over those desolate, sandy wastes.
The Indian men showed no less ingenuity artistic skill in their special lines of work than the women, especially in manufacture of their bows and arrows, in the making of fish lines and coarser twine out of the soft, flexible bark of the milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), and in making other useful implements and utensils with the very limited means at their disposal.
Their bows were made of a branch of the incense cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), or of the California nutmeg (Tumion Californicum [Torreya]), made flat on the outer side, and rounded smooth on the inner or concave side when the bow is strung for use. The flat, outer side was covered with sinew, usually that from the leg of a deer, steeped in hot water until it became soft and glutinous, and then laid evenly and smoothly over the wood, and so shaped at the ends as to hold the string in place. When thoroughly dry the sinew contracted, so that the bow when not strung was concave on the outer side.
Photo of a Basket Maker
Photograph by Boysen.
A BASKET MAKER.
She is weaving a burden basket. The one to the left is for cooking, and a baby basket stands against the tent.
When not in use the bow was always left unstrung. To string it for use, it was necessary in cold weather to warm it, thus making it more elastic and easily bent. The best strings were also made of sinew, or of pax-wax cartilage, for their finest bows.
The arrows were made of reeds and various kinds of wood, including the syringa (Philadelphus Lewisii) and a small shrub or tree which the Indians called Le-ham´-i-tee, or arrow-wood, and which grew quite plentifully in what is now known as Indian Canyon, near the Yosemite Falls.
The finest arrows were furnished with points made of obsidian, or volcanic glass, which was obtained in the vicinity of Mono Lake on the eastern side of the Sierras. It required great care and delicate skill to work this brittle material into the fine sharp points, and the making of them seemed to be a special business or trade with some of the old men. Arrows furnished with these points were only used in hunting large game, or in hostile combat with enemies; for common use, in hunting small game, the hard wooden arrow was merely sharpened to a point.
The butt, or end used on the string, was furnished with three or four short strips of feathers taken from a hawk's wing, and fastened on lengthwise. These strips of feathers are supposed to aid in the more accurate flight of the arrow when shot from the bow.
When out on a hunt the Indian carried his bow strung ready for use, and his bundle of assorted arrows in a quiver made of the skin of a small fox, wild-cat or fisher, hung conveniently over his shoulder.
These primitive weapons, which were in universal use by the Yosemite Indians fifty years ago, are now never seen except in some collection of Indian relics and curios.
Other articles manufactured by these tribes were stone hammers, and also others made from the points of deer horns mounted on wooden handles, which they used in delicately chipping the brittle obsidian in forming arrowheads. Rude musical instruments, principally drums and flageolets, were also made.
The Indians of the Yosemite Valley and vicinity have a great fund of mythological lore, which has been handed down verbally from generation to generation for hundreds of years, but they are very reluctant to speak of these legends to white people, and it is extremely difficult to get reliable information on the subject. Moreover, the Indians most familiar with them have not a sufficient knowledge of the English language to be able to express their ideas clearly.
Many Yosemite legends have been published at different times and in various forms, and it is probable that most of them have had at least a foundation in real Indian myths, but many are obviously fanciful in some particulars, and it is impossible to tell how much is of Indian origin and how much is due to poetic embellishment. When asked about some of these legends, many years ago, one of the old Yosemite Indians remarked contemptuously, "White man too much lie."
On the other hand, red men as well as white men are sometimes given to romancing, and I have known of cases where "legends" would be manufactured on the spur of the moment by some young Indian to satisfy an importunate and credulous questioner, to the keen but suppressed amusement of other Indians present.
It will therefore be seen that this subject is surrounded with some difficulty, and it must not be understood that the legends here given are vouched for as of wholly Indian origin. Some of them, notably those of the Tul-tok´-a-na and the second legend of Tis-sa´-ack, have been accepted by eminent ethnologists, and are believed to be purely aboriginal, while others have doubtless been somewhat idealized in translation and in the course of numerous repetitions.
The legend of To-tau-kon-nu´-la and Tis-sa´-ack is made up of fragments of mythological lore obtained from a number of old Indians at various times during the past fifty years. It varies somewhat from other legends which have been published regarding these same characters, but it is well known that the Indians living in Yosemite in recent years are of mixed tribal origin and do not all agree as to the traditional history of the region, nor the names of the prominent scenic features, nor even of the Valley itself. And this largely accounts for the fact that some of the legends do not harmonize with each other in details or in sentiment. All of them, however, are picturesque, and they certainly give an added interest to the natural beauties and wonders with which they are associated.
Innumerable moons and snows have passed since the Great Spirit guided a little band of his favorite children into the beautiful vale of Ah-wah´-nee [Yosemite Valley], and bid them stop and rest from their long and weary wanderings, which had lasted ever since they had been separated by the great waters from the happy land of their forefathers in the far distant El-o´-win (West).
Photo of Mary
Photograph by Boysen.
MARY.
Daughter of Captain John, one of the last Chiefs of the
Yosemites.
Here they found food in abundance for all. The rivers gave them plenty of la-pe´-si (trout). They found in the meadows sweet ha´-ker (clover), and sour yu-yu-yu-mah (oxalis) for spring medicine, and sweet toon´-gy and other edible roots in abundance. The trees and bushes yielded acorns, pine nuts, fruits and berries. In the forests were herds of he´-ker (deer) and other animals, which gave meat for food and skins for clothing and beds. And here they lived and multiplied, and, as instructed by their medicine men, worshipped the Great Spirit which gave them life, and the sun which warmed and made them happy.
They also kept in memory the happy land of their forefathers. The story was told by the old people to the young, and they again told it to their children from generation to generation, and they all believed that after death their spirits would return to dwell forever in that distant country.
They prospered and built other towns outside of Ah-wah´-nee, and became a great nation. They learned wisdom by experience and by observing how the Great Spirit taught the animals and insects to live, and they believed that their children could absorb the cunning of the wild creatures. And so the young son of their chieftain was made to sleep in the skins of the beaver and coyote, that he might grow wise in building, and keen of scent in following game. On some days he was fed with la-pe´-si that he might become a good swimmer, and on other days the eggs of the great to-tau´-kon (crane) were his food, that he might grow tall and keen of sight, and have a clear, ringing voice. He was also fed on the flesh of the he´-ker that he might be fleet of foot, and on that of the great yo-sem´-i-te (grizzly bear) to make him powerful in combat.
And the little boy grew up and became a great and wise chieftain, and he was also a rain wizard, and brought timely rains for the crops.
As was the custom in giving names to all Indians, his name was changed from time to time, as his character developed, until he was called Choo´-too-se-ka´, meaning the Supreme Good. His grand o-chum (house) was built at the base of the great rock called To-tau-kon-nu´-la [El Capitan], because the great to-tau´-kons made their nests and raised their young in a meadow at its summit, and their loud ringing cries resounded over the whole Valley.
As the moons and snows passed, this great rock and all the great rocky walls around the Valley grew in height, and the hills became high mountains.
After a time Choo´-too-se-ka´ built himself a great palace o´-chum on the summit of the rock To-tau-kon-nu´-la, and had his great chair of state a little west of his palace, where on all festival occasions he could overlook and talk to the great multitude below; and the remains of this chair are still to be seen.
Choo´-too-se-ka´ was then named To-tau-kon-nu´-la, because he had built his o´-chum on the summit of the great rock and taken the place of the to-tau´-kons. He had no wife, but all the women served him in his domestic needs, as he was their great chief, and his wishes were paramount. The many valuable donations which he received from his people at the great annual festivals made him wealthy beyond all personal wants, and he gave freely to the needy.
One day, while standing on the top of the great dome [Sentinel Dome] above the south wall of the Valley, watching the great herds of deer, he saw some strange people approaching, bearing heavy burdens. They were fairer of skin, and their clothing was different from that of his people, and when they drew near he asked them who they were and whence they came.
And a woman replied, "I am Tis-sa´-ack, and these are some of my people. We come from cat´-tan chu´-much (far South). I have heard of your great wisdom and goodness, and have come to see you and your people. We bring you presents of many fine baskets, and beads of many colors, as tokens of our friendship. When we have rested and seen your people and beautiful valley we will return to our home."
Photo of a Half Dome
Photograph by Foley
HALF DOME (TIS-SA´-ACK). 5,000 Feet.
Named for a woman in Indian mythology who was turned to stone for quarreling with her husband. See "Legend of Tis-sa´-ack."
To-tau-kon-nu´-la was much pleased with his fair visitor, and built a large o´-chum for her and her companions on the summit of the great dome at the east end of the Valley [Half Dome], and this dome still retains her name.
And she tarried there and taught the women of Ah-wah´-nee how to make the beautiful baskets which they still make at the present day; and To-tau-kon-nu´-la visited her daily, and became charmed with her loveliness, and wanted her to remain and be his wife, but she denied him, saying, "I must return to my people," and, when he still persisted, she left her o´-chum in the night and was never seen again. And the love-stricken chieftain forgot his people, and went in search of her, and they waited many moons for his return and mourned his long absence, but they never saw him more.
This was the beginning of a series of calamities which nearly destroyed the great tribe of Ah-wah-nee´-chees. First a great drouth prevailed, and the crops failed, and the streams of water dried up. The deer went wild and wandered away. Then a dark cloud of smoke arose in the East and obscured the sun, so that it gave no heat, and many of the people perished from cold and hunger. Then the earth shook terribly and groaned with great pain, and enormous rocks fell from the walls around Ah-wah´-nee. The great dome called Tis-sa´-ack was burst asunder, and half of it fell into the Valley. A fire burst out of the earth in the East, and the ca´-lah (snow) on the sky mountains was changed to water, which flowed down and formed the Lake Ah-wei´-yah [Mirror Lake]. And all the streams were filled to overflowing, and still the waters rose, and there was a great flood, so that a large part of the Valley became a lake, and many persons were drowned.
After a time the Great Spirit took pity on his children, and the dark cloud of smoke disappeared, the sun warmed the Valley again into new life, and the few people who were left had plenty of food once more.
Many moons afterwards there appeared on the face of the great rock To-tau-kon-nu´-la the figure of a man in a flowing robe, and with one hand extended toward the West, in which direction he appears to be traveling. This figure was interpreted to be the picture of the great lost Chieftain, indicating that he had gone to the "happy hunting grounds" of his ancestors, and it is looked upon with great veneration and awe by the few Indians still living in Yosemite.
At about the same time the face of the beautiful Tis-sa´-ack appeared on the great flat side of the dome which bears her name, and the Indians recognized her by the way in which her dark hair was cut straight across her forehead and fell down at the sides, which was then considered among the Yosemites as the acme of feminine beauty, and is so regarded to this day.
Photo of a Burden Bearer
Photograph by Fiske
A BURDEN BEARER.
The women are the principal burden bearers and all loads are
carried in large baskets, supported by a band across the
forehead.
Tis-sa´-ack and her husband traveled from a far-off country, and entered the Valley footsore and weary. She walked ahead, carrying a great conical burden-basket, which was supported by a band across her forehead, and was filled with many things. He followed after, carrying a rude staff in his hand and a roll of woven skin blankets over his shoulder. They had come across the mountains and were very thirsty, and they hurried to reach the Valley, where they knew there was water. The woman was still far in advance when she reached the Lake Ah-wei´-yah [Mirror Lake], and she dipped up the water in her basket and drank long and deep. She was so thirsty that she even drank up all the water in the lake and drained it dry before her husband arrived. And because the lake was dry there came a terrible drouth in the Valley, and the soil was dried up and nothing grew.
And the husband was much displeased because the woman had drunk up all the water and left none for him, and he became so angry that he forgot the customs of his people and beat the woman with his staff. She ran away from him, but he followed her and beat her yet more. And she wept, and in her anger she turned and reviled her husband, and threw her basket at him. And while they were in this attitude, one facing the other, they were turned into stone for their wickedness, and there they still retain. The upturned basket lies beside the husband, where the woman threw it, and the woman's face is tear stained with long dark lines trailing down.
Half-Dome is the woman Tis-sa´-ack and North Dome is her husband, while beside the latter is a smaller dome which is still called Basket Dome to this day.
The significance and derivation of the name "Yosemite," as given by old Tenei´-ya, chief of the tribe, have been explained in another chapter, but there is also a legendary account of its origin, which may be of interest.
Long, long ago, when the remote ancestors of the Yosemite Indians dwelt peacefully in the valley called Ah-wah´-nee [Yosemite Valley], one of the stalwart young braves of the tribe went early one morning to spear some fish in the lake Ah-wei´-yah [Mirror Lake]. Before reaching his destination he was confronted by a huge grizzly bear, who appeared from behind one of the enormous boulders in that vicinity, and savagely disputed his passage.
Photo of El Capitan
Photograph by Foley.
EL CAPITAN (TO-TAU-KON-NU´-LA), 3,300 Feet.
Indians believe that this great rock grew from a small boulder. See "Legend of the Tul-tok´-a-na."
Being attacked in this unexpected manner, the Indian defended himself to the best of his ability, using for the purpose the dead limb of a tree which was near at hand, and, after a long and furious struggle, in which he was badly wounded, he at length succeeded in killing the bear.
His exploit was considered so remarkable by the rest of the tribe that they called him Yo-sem´-i-te (meaning a full-grown grizzly bear), in honor of his achievement, and this name was transmitted to his children, and eventually to the whole tribe.
There were once two little boys living in the Valley of Ah-wah´-nee, who went down to the river to swim. When they had finished their bath they went on shore and lay down on a large boulder to dry themselves in the sun. While lying there they fell asleep, and slept so soundly that they never woke up again. Through many moons and many snows they slept, and while they slept the great rock [El Capitan] on which they lay was slowly rising, little by little, until it soon lifted them up out of sight, and their friends searched for them everywhere without success. Thus they were carried up into the blue sky, until they scraped their faces against the moon; and still they slept on.
Photo of North Dome
Photograph by Fiske.