The discovery of gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada began one of the darkest times of sexual assault and mass murder against the native people of California.
In one year 100,000 prospectors descended upon the natives of California with catastrophic results.With the state filled with these newcomers officials were overpowered by the flood of immigrants into the state and all measures of authority were lost and chaos ensued. Killings and mass violence against Indians who resisted Minors developed into mass murder. Vigilante groups such as the Humbolt Home Guard, Eel River Minutemen and the Placer Blades terrorized Indians. Within the first 2 years 100,000 Indians were killed by individual minors resulting in a population loss of 2/3 the population. There is nothing in American Indian history that can be compared to a loss this large of an entire population that when it was almost over left approximately 70,000 surviving Indians and almost total annihilation. By the turn of the century the remaining Native American in California were forced to leave their ancestral lands. Some lived on New California reservations.
Before the Gold Rush the Yahi tribe numbered approximately 400. After a massacre in 1865, only 30 Yahi survived. The remaining Yahi escaped and went into hiding for the next 40 years until cattlemen killed all but Ishi, the last survivor of the Yahi tribe.
Ishi was found by local towns people and taken into custody for his own protection. This last known Indian "wild man" brought curiosity to the civilized white people. So they moved him to the University of California, Berkeley's Anthropology Museum. He lived in an old Law school building where he lived out the remainder of his life. Except for a summer in 1915 he resided with anthropologist Thomas Talbot Waterman and his family until he passed from Tuberculosis in 1916.
Ishi taught as much of his culture to the new people as he could as his remaining people were dying not only from the white man but the progression and spread of disease brought to the land as well. If not Indians would naturally die out or become part of the civilized "white Culture" The Indian language, technology and art would all be lost.
Today Native Americans are fighting to get back cultural artifacts and human remains. Over the years they have been stolen or owned by museums. In 1916 when Ishi died his brain was sold to the Smithsonian In Washington. In 1997 California Indians demanded to have Ishi's remains turned over so they could give him a proper burial in his ancestral lands. The Smithsonian denied for 3 years they were in possession of his brain but after a long battle the released his brain in August 2000.
I chose Ishi because his story of survival captivated my heart. I could never imagine having all my people and family killed and being the only one to survive. And after surviving this horror not having anyone I could relate to or understand me. What fascinated me even more he chose to give back to the people he caused him such great pain and loss.
1. Wes chose the National Civil War Museum because : "It was perhaps one of the most important historical events in American history."
2. Roxanne chose: The National Museum of Dance because because she "longed to become a dancer of some sort."
3. Robert picked:The Metropolitan Museum of Art he was drawn to the museum because "they have some very impressive pieces from the Renaissance era, which is an era that has always captured my imagination and definitely includes some of the most widely renowned art, and is my personal favorite."
4. Michelle chose Monticello because she went there as a child.
5.Mary picked Smithsonian Museum of American History and was interested in the FOOD exhibit because I am in the culinary program at the j.c
6.Lori picked Guggenheim Museum because she had previously made a trip to NY and ran out of time and was not able to visit.
7. Karen chose the The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum because this was not something we can ignore.
8. Jacob chose choose the Museum of Contemporary Photography because "photography has interested me for many, many years."
9. Eric chose The Nationla Civil War Museum because he believes that "of the many wars America has been involved in, the Civil War was one of the most culturally influential."
10. Brooke picked The Academy of Natural Sciences because she has a degree in Natural Sciences "so I thought this was right up my alley."
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