The Story of the Yahi Man

“In august of1911, a starving Native American Indian walked out of the Butte wilderness into Oroville California and became an instant journalistic sensation.” (Rockafeller) The Indians name was Ishi. He came out of the forest starving and scavenging for food. “Ishi looked like the walking dead.” (Gannet) Ishi will always be remembered by his historical imprint that he left on the world. Ishi was born into the wild and ended up living in one of the biggest cities, with a death that shattered the U.S.

“There he stood… tearfully straddling two worlds.” (Rockafeller) Ishi was caught between two worlds. Ishi was all alone left in the wilderness, when all of his tribe dies in a horrible massacre. His tribe was the Yahi; the Yahi were very independent, having come up with language, customs, and techniques that were their own. There is no exact date of when Ishi was born; it was sometime in the 1860s. There is also no information on Ishi’s childhood, data shows that he was taught many things by his tribe while he was younger, younger men are taught natural survival skills before they get to old so they know how to live on their own and support a family; Ishi was taught and he put those skills to everyday survival. In the 1840s there were about 400 Yahi people in existence. When the Yahi died, Ishi was the only one who could save the culture.

When Ishi was left in the woods all alone, he tried his best to survive. He was starving with no food or water; he lacked weight and didn’t have any where to go. When hunting did not work in his favor and food had run out, he found himself walking and scavenging for food all alone in the California wilderness. He walked 40 miles away from his campground; when he came upon a creek. He decided he ...

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...rts of many. Ishi will always be remembered by being one of the bravest. He will always be a historical figure to many of people. The Yahi man, who came out of the forest starving looking for food and died a hero to many, will be greatly missed by many. The Yahi tribe might be gone, but the history behind it will always live on, due to Ishi’s brave life that he lived and we all witnessed. Ishi will be missed by multiple people worldwide and will always hold a place in the history of this country; he taught us many things that we took into our own culture.

Works Cited

Gannet, Lewis. Ishi A Real Life. www.mohicanpress.com. 2002. Web. 31, Jan 2014

Kroeber, Theodora. Ishi In Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961. Print.

Rockafeller, Nancy. The Story of Ishi. UCSF.edu. Web 2014. 29, Jan 2014