Theodora Kroeber (1897–1979)

The tragic yet revelatory story of Ishi, the last of the Yahi, the last documented Indigenous person to live in the wild in the United States.

The author was married to one of the men who worked intensively with Ishi when he descended from the mountains, alone and starving, in 1911. The author begins with that moment: his arrival near Oroville, his expectation to be killed, being protected in the jail, the summons for the anthropologists from UCalifornia-Berkeley. The author then returns to show more the past, speaking of what was known regarding Indigenous life in California before contact with the Europeans, the Yana tribe and its divisions, how relatively untouched the Yana were by the Spaniards and the Mexicans, but then how the Americans continually attacked and slaughtered them with prejudice. Narratives from locals were used to attempt to reconstruct what precisely happened with the Yahi: their eventual reduction to only a handful, their willingness to raid for food to survive, Ishi and the last few survivors; the 1908 ransack of their last village and the death of all but Ishi.

The author then returns to describe Ishi and his life from 1911-1916: his constitution, his experience of San Francisco, his work as a janitor, much about his language, his interactions and friendships, his craftsmanship, what he communicated regarding Yahi customs, culture, and stories, the trip back to his home territory in 1914; his ultimate demise from tuberculosis.

This is definitely a work from 1960. Many of the cultural assumptions and prognostications will be perceived as cringeworthy today. And yet the author is very forthright about the genocide the Americans perpetrated on the Indigenous people of California. She is rather sympathetic toward Ishi and portrayed him without too much of a patronizing tone. It might well be that she attempted to exonerate her husband and his associates for their treatment of Ishi; it is also possible that she portrayed his attitude after 1911 decently well, as someone who had committed to living among white people in white culture who may not have minded visiting the old homestead but was quite happy to return - because he would rather live among his white friends in a strange world than by himself in a more familiar one.

The book generates a lot of conflicting emotions. It's amazing that all of this could take place as late as 1911; we can appreciate the amount of work expended to try to preserve aspects of Yahi language and culture while lamenting the behaviors that made it so dire and necessary. It's a reminder of how much has changed in California in the past century. It's a legacy we'll never be able to fully shake.

Recognize the work is from 1960 and all that entails; but the story told ought to be read. show less

I see where [[Ursula K. LeGuin]] gets her sensitive and beautiful writing style from, as well as her concern for the intricacies of culture and the tension between powerful newcomers and vulnerable indigenous peoples.

Her mother, the author of this book, does an amazing job of weaving together her own knowledge of the land and Ishi with the notes and comments of her husband, the anthropologist who became Ishi's close friend after he was discovered, ill and alone, in 1911. This plea for show more intelligent apprehension and respect of rights and culture is beautiful and heart-rending. The story is partly ficitonalized--for the bare facts turn to other records. It is told from Ishi's perspective, so some of historical details are missing, but the sense of a life lived in hiding and the reasons for it are very much there. show less

Countless native Americans were hounded to death by settlers from back east, in the name of "Manifest Destiny." This is the story of one who survived--barely. Ishi's people were all dead, mostly from genocide, when he stumbled into the white man's world in 1911, fearful and half dead from hunger and exhaustion. He knew no English, only Stone Age survival skills. He was enough of a novelty to find help and acceptance, becoming a kind of resident freak in an anthropology museum in San show more Francisco. The Wild Man of Oroville, people called him. Naturally he was perplexed by the strange new world he found himself in, and some people treated him like a child. But you've got to admire him. He was a survivor, and his way of life, unlike ours, was sustainable. Did he have more to teach us than we to teach him? A sad tale that all Americans should read, because Ishi's tragedy was repeated so many times in our history. This book is a scholarly work, dry and academic at times, so don't read it for entertainment. show less

This is a must-read, although I would like to follow it up with a historical account of Ishi's life and "discovery," since this is essentially a novel and Theodora Kroeber never met Ishi.

Ishi was a native Californian whose entire tribe, the Yahi, was driven out from their home or killed during his lifetime. After a time living in solitude, he traveled west, was called to the attention of the anthropologist Alfred Kroeber, and spent the rest of his life living in the museum of the Berkeley show more School of Anthropology, dying in 1916. He is believed to be the last native Californian to live a traditional lifestyle outside European-American culture.

Theodora Kroeber tells this fictionalized account of his life with respect and sensitivity. Ishi is the hero of his own story, not a believe-it-or-not oddity, and she tries to imagine the significance he might have found in the events of his life. It's a beautifully told story, full of rich, but not overly exoticized, descriptions of traditional native life.

Alfred and Theodora Kroeber of course have a famous writer daughter, Ursula K. LeGuin, so anyone interested in LeGuin's family roots in anthropology should definitely read this. show less