Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee Read Online Free

Arrangements were quickly made for the wild Indian to become a “ward” of the university. The sheriff agreed since he couldn’t talk to the prisoner at all.
    The wild Indian was taken to the university where Professors Waterman and Kroeber would sit and talk to him. He was taken to the university teaching hospital, which was next to the museum. There, Dr. Sexton Pope examined him to make sure he was not suffering from any illnesses. After working with him for a while, the professors realized that he was from the Yahi, a part of the southern Yana Indians. By Yahi tradition, he was not allowed to speak his name or the names of the dead. So, Professor Kroeber gave him the name “Ishi,” which is Yana for “man.” As they learned more of his language, Ishi was also learning English. Soon, Ishi was able to carry on a simple conversation in English. Dr. Pope was very interested in archery and was soon asking Ishi questions about the type of bow and arrows he used. Ishi enjoyed talking about his way of life. Soon they became close friends.
    Ishi was fascinated by the “healing place,” his word for the hospital. He would roam the halls, making friends and learning. He could not understand how they could “kill” a person, cut him open, close him back up and then he would come back to “life.”
    As others learned more about Ishi’s way of life, their respect for him grew. At first, they didn’t understand why Ishi would cringe whenever he heard a dog barking. Ishi explained that barking dogs meant death to his people. His people would hear the dogs barking as they came up the mountains and they would know that the white men were coming with guns to kill them. They would scatter into the mountains. They would hear gunshots and later, when they would gather at the meeting place, there were always some who were missing. Each time, their numbers grew smaller and smaller. Finally, there were only Ishi, his mother and his sister. Once again they heard the dogs and they scattered into the mountains. Ishi had heard gunshots in the direction his mother had taken. Then he heard gunshots in the direction his sister had taken. Later, he returned to the gathering place and waited for several days, but neither his mother nor his sister showed up. He never saw his mother or sister again. Everybody he had ever known was gone.
    It was hard work finding food, and it took several people working together to gather enough food to survive. One person by himself could not gather enough food to live. Soon, starvation drove Ishi down out of the mountains. It was then that he was found in the rancher’s buildings looking for food.
    Ishi would be taken on sightseeing tours to show him the “white man’s world.” They thought that skyscrapers with people living in them would impress him. He simply said, “Like big mountains. I lived in mountains.”
    They pointed out airplanes in the sky. Ishi had seen and heard them flying over often enough that he paid them no attention. But he was intrigued with a window shade that would roll up. “Where does it go?” he asked. Then he was taken to the beach. He was stunned! When his people had gathered, he had only seen fifty to sixty people at the most. There on the beach he saw thousands. He did not know that that many people existed in the world.
    Bows would disappear from the museum. The museum staff would know that Dr. Pope and Ishi were trying them out and discussing the various merits of each bow. When they were finished, the bows would mysteriously return to their place in the museum.
    Ishi was given his own room and was assigned the task of helping out in the museum. He had learned how to wear the clothes of the white man. Soon, he learned how to get around using the trolley cars and was doing his own shopping.
    He loved talking about his way of life, and he was asked if he would be willing to talk to the public about it. He