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Ishi (1860? – March 25, 1916) was the name given to the last member of the Yahi tribe of California, and means man in the Yahi language. Ishi is believed to be the last Native American in Northern California to have lived the bulk of his life completely outside the European American culture. He emerged from the wild on August 29, 1911 near Oroville, California, after leaving his ancestral homeland in the foothills near Lassen Peak.

Prior to European contact, the Yahi population numbered approximately 3,000. In 1865 Ishi and his family were the victims of the Three Knolls Massacre, from which approximately 30 Yahi survived. The remaining Yahi escaped but were forced into hiding after cattlemen killed about half of the survivors. Eventually all of Ishi's companions died, and he was discovered by a group of butchers in their corral at Oroville, August 29, 1911.

After being noticed by townspeople, Ishi was taken into custody by a local sheriff for his own protection. He was then moved to the Museum of Anthropology at UCSF where he lived the remainder of his life, studied closely by the anthropologists Alfred L. Kroeber and Thomas Talbot Waterman. He helped them reconstruct Yahi culture by identifying material items and showing how they were made, as well as by providing information on the Yahi language. Ishi died of tuberculosis on March 25, 1916.

His story was popularized in a book by Theodora Kroeber, wife of Alfred L. Kroeber, who worked with her husband's notes and comments to create the story of a man she had never met. The book, Ishi in Two Worlds (ISBN 0520229401), was published after Alfred Kroeber's death in 1960.

In 2003, anthropologists Clifton Kroeber and Karl Kroeber, sons of Alfred L. Kroeber, edited a book together on the Ishi case, Ishi in Three Centuries (ISBN 0803227574). This is the first scholarly book on Ishi to contain essays by Indians. Ishi's story was updated by Duke University anthropologist Orin Starn in his book, Ishi's Brain: In Search of America's Last 'Wild' Indian, published in 2004 (ISBN 0-393-05133-1). Ishi's Brain follows Starn's quest for the remains of the last of the Yahi and understand what he meant to Americans then and modern Indians today.

Ishi's real name was never known, because in his society it was taboo to say one's own name. Since he was the last member of his tribe, Ishi's real name died with him.

Ishi & Archery

Ishi like most Native Americans of his time, was an excellent archer. Amongst his friendships developed at the University, was Dr. Saxton Pope, a physician called in to care for Ishi. The two also became close friends. Dr. Pope particularly became fascinated by the bows and arrows made by Ishi and the practice of archery. Ishi taught Dr. Pope how to make the equipment and the two hunted together in the mountains in California. After Ishi's death, Dr. Pope continued with his archery that Ishi had taught him and went on to write the famous book "Hunting with the bow and arrow". Many consider Dr. Pope to be the father of modern day archery and archery hunting. His start, however, and really much of the origins of modern day hunting traces back to Ishi and his teachings.

External link

• Encyclopedia of North American Indians entry on Ishi

• Ishi's Brain: In Search of America's Last 'Wild' Indian Starn, Orin, New York: W.W. Norton, 2004.

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