Indians of the Yosemite Valley and Vicinity Part 5

The Yosemites and other kindred or adjacent tribes have been branded as "Diggers," and are generally thought to be the lowest cla.s.s of Indians in America, but in some lines of artistic work they excelled all other tribes. For example, their basketry work, for domestic and sacred purposes, and their bows and arrows, were of very superior workmans.h.i.+p and fine finish.

BASKETRY AND BEAD WORK.

Many years ago the chief industry of the Indian women, aside from their other domestic duties, was the making of baskets. They made a great variety of shapes and sizes for their common use, and also many of a more artistic design and finer finish for the sacred purpose of being burned or buried with their bodies, or that of some relative or dear friend, after death. The baskets devoted to this special purpose are the finest made, but are very seldom seen by any white person, and are not for sale at any price. This finest style of work seems to have been made a specialty by certain of the most artistic workers in each tribe.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MRS. JORGENSEN'S COLLECTION OF BASKETS.

For the mythical origin of basket-making in the Yosemite see "Legend of To-tau-kon-nu'-la and Tis-sa'-ack."]

At the present time, in their more modern style of living, they do not require so many baskets, and the industry of making them is fast on the decline. Some of the old women, however, still continue to make such as are required for their own use, and a few others for sale.

Most of the ornamental figures and designs worked into the finest basketry are symbolical in character, and of so ancient an origin that Indians of the present day do not know what many of them are intended to represent. They have simply been copied from time immemorial, with the idea that they were necessary for the complete finish and beauty of the article made.

In recent years they sometimes make use of more modern styles of ornamentation, which they see in print.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photograph by Fiske_.

INDIAN BEAD WORK.

Mrs. George Fiske's collection of Yosemite and Pai-ute' bead work.]

Many of the young women are now giving their attention to making fancy bead work, in the form of ornamental belts and hat-bands, but this is an industry of very modern origin. Some of them are employed by white people to do laundry and other work, and any labor of this kind pays them better than making baskets for sale.

Forty years ago a finely made basket could have been bought for less than ten dollars. At present, if the time spent in getting and preparing the necessary materials, and in working them into the basket, were paid for at the same rate per day that a young woman receives for doing was.h.i.+ng in the hotel laundry, or for private families, it would amount to over one hundred dollars.

Most of the baskets made for domestic use are so closely woven that they are practically water-tight, and are used for cooking and similar purposes. Over on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, near the dry, desert country, the Indians make some of their baskets in the form of jugs of various sizes. These are smeared over with a pitch composition, which renders them perfectly water-tight, and they are used for carrying water when traveling over those desolate, sandy wastes.

BOWS AND ARROWS.

The Indian men showed no less ingenuity artistic skill in their special lines of work than the women, especially in manufacture of their bows and arrows, in the making of fish lines and coa.r.s.er twine out of the soft, flexible bark of the milkweed (_Asclepias speciosa_), and in making other useful implements and utensils with the very limited means at their disposal.

Their bows were made of a branch of the incense cedar (_Libocedrus decurrens_), or of the California nutmeg (_Tumion Californic.u.m [Torreya])_, made flat on the outer side, and rounded smooth on the inner or concave side when the bow is strung for use. The flat, outer side was covered with sinew, usually that from the leg of a deer, steeped in hot water until it became soft and glutinous, and then laid evenly and smoothly over the wood, and so shaped at the ends as to hold the string in place. When thoroughly dry the sinew contracted, so that the bow when not strung was concave on the outer side.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photograph by Boysen._ A BASKET MAKER.

She is weaving a burden basket. The one to the left is for cooking, and a baby basket stands against the tent.]

When not in use the bow was always left unstrung. To string it for use, it was necessary in cold weather to warm it, thus making it more elastic and easily bent. The best strings were also made of sinew, or of pax-wax cartilage, for their finest bows.

The arrows were made of reeds and various kinds of wood, including the syringa (_Philadelphus Lewisii_) and a small shrub or tree which the Indians called _Le-ham'-i-tee,_ or arrow-wood, and which grew quite plentifully in what is now known as Indian Canyon, near the Yosemite Falls.

The finest arrows were furnished with points made of obsidian, or volcanic gla.s.s, which was obtained in the vicinity of Mono Lake on the eastern side of the Sierras. It required great care and delicate skill to work this brittle material into the fine sharp points, and the making of them seemed to be a special business or trade with some of the old men. Arrows furnished with these points were only used in hunting large game, or in hostile combat with enemies; for common use, in hunting small game, the hard wooden arrow was merely sharpened to a point.

The b.u.t.t, or end used on the string, was furnished with three or four short strips of feathers taken from a hawk's wing, and fastened on lengthwise. These strips of feathers are supposed to aid in the more accurate flight of the arrow when shot from the bow.

When out on a hunt the Indian carried his bow strung ready for use, and his bundle of a.s.sorted arrows in a quiver made of the skin of a small fox, wild-cat or fisher, hung conveniently over his shoulder.

These primitive weapons, which were in universal use by the Yosemite Indians fifty years ago, are now never seen except in some collection of Indian relics and curios.

Other articles manufactured by these tribes were stone hammers, and also others made from the points of deer horns mounted on wooden handles, which they used in delicately chipping the brittle obsidian in forming arrowheads. Rude musical instruments, princ.i.p.ally drums and flageolets, were also made.

Chapter Seven.

MYTHS AND LEGENDS.

The Indians of the Yosemite Valley and vicinity have a great fund of mythological lore, which has been handed down verbally from generation to generation for hundreds of years, but they are very reluctant to speak of these legends to white people, and it is extremely difficult to get reliable information on the subject.

Moreover, the Indians most familiar with them have not a sufficient knowledge of the English language to be able to express their ideas clearly.

Many Yosemite legends have been published at different times and in various forms, and it is probable that most of them have had at least a foundation in real Indian myths, but many are obviously fanciful in some particulars, and it is impossible to tell how much is of Indian origin and how much is due to poetic embellishment. When asked about some of these legends, many years ago, one of the old Yosemite Indians remarked contemptuously, "White man too much lie."

On the other hand, red men as well as white men are sometimes given to romancing, and I have known of cases where "legends"

would be manufactured on the spur of the moment by some young Indian to satisfy an importunate and credulous questioner, to the keen but suppressed amus.e.m.e.nt of other Indians present.

It will therefore be seen that this subject is surrounded with some difficulty, and it must not be understood that the legends here given are vouched for as of wholly Indian origin. Some of them, notably those of the Tul-tok'-a-na and the second legend of Tis-sa'-ack, have been accepted by eminent ethnologists, and are believed to be purely aboriginal, while others have doubtless been somewhat idealized in translation and in the course of numerous repet.i.tions.

The legend of To-tau-kon-nu'-la and Tis-sa'-ack is made up of fragments of mythological lore obtained from a number of old Indians at various times during the past fifty years. It varies somewhat from other legends which have been published regarding these same characters, but it is well known that the Indians living in Yosemite in recent years are of mixed tribal origin and do not all agree as to the traditional history of the region, nor the names of the prominent scenic features, nor even of the Valley itself. And this largely accounts for the fact that some of the legends do not harmonize with each other in details or in sentiment. All of them, however, are picturesque, and they certainly give an added interest to the natural beauties and wonders with which they are a.s.sociated.

LEGEND OF TO-TAU-KON-NU'-LA AND TIS-SA'-ACK.

Innumerable moons and snows have pa.s.sed since the Great Spirit guided a little band of his favorite children into the beautiful vale of Ah-wah'-nee [Yosemite Valley], and bid them stop and rest from their long and weary wanderings, which had lasted ever since they had been separated by the great waters from the happy land of their forefathers in the far distant _El-o'-win_ (West).

Here they found food in abundance for all. The rivers gave them plenty of _la-pe'-si_ (trout). They found in the meadows sweet _ha'-ker_ (clover), and sour _yu-yu-yu-mah_ (oxalis) for spring medicine, and sweet _toon'-gy_ and other edible roots in abundance. The trees and bushes yielded acorns, pine nuts, fruits and berries. In the forests were herds of _he'-ker_ (deer) and other animals, which gave meat for food and skins for clothing and beds. And here they lived and multiplied, and, as instructed by their medicine men, wors.h.i.+pped the Great Spirit which gave them life, and the sun which warmed and made them happy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photograph by Boysen_.

MARY.

Daughter of Captain John, one of the last Chiefs of the Yosemites.]

They also kept in memory the happy land of their forefathers. The story was told by the old people to the young, and they again told it to their children from generation to generation, and they all believed that after death their spirits would return to dwell forever in that distant country.

They prospered and built other towns outside of Ah-wah'-nee, and became a great nation. They learned wisdom by experience and by observing how the Great Spirit taught the animals and insects to live, and they believed that their children could absorb the cunning of the wild creatures. And so the young son of their chieftain was made to sleep in the skins of the beaver and coyote, that he might grow wise in building, and keen of scent in following game. On some days he was fed with _la-pe'-si_ that he might become a good swimmer, and on other days the eggs of the great _to-tau'-kon_ (crane) were his food, that he might grow tall and keen of sight, and have a clear, ringing voice. He was also fed on the flesh of the _he'-ker_ that he might be fleet of foot, and on that of the great _yo-sem'-i-te_ (grizzly bear) to make him powerful in combat.

And the little boy grew up and became a great and wise chieftain, and he was also a rain wizard, and brought timely rains for the crops.

As was the custom in giving names to all Indians, his name was changed from time to time, as his character developed, until he was called Choo'-too-se-ka', meaning the Supreme Good. His grand _o-chum_ (house) was built at the base of the great rock called To-tau-kon-nu'-la [El Capitan], because the great _to-tau'-kons_ made their nests and raised their young in a meadow at its summit, and their loud ringing cries resounded over the whole Valley.

As the moons and snows pa.s.sed, this great rock and all the great rocky walls around the Valley grew in height, and the hills became high mountains.

After a time Choo'-too-se-ka' built himself a great palace _o'-chum_ on the summit of the rock To-tau-kon-nu'-la, and had his great chair of state a little west of his palace, where on all festival occasions he could overlook and talk to the great mult.i.tude below; and the remains of this chair are still to be seen.

Choo'-too-se-ka' was then named To-tau-kon-nu'-la, because he had built his _o'-chum_ on the summit of the great rock and taken the place of the _to-tau'-kons_. He had no wife, but all the women served him in his domestic needs, as he was their great chief, and his wishes were paramount. The many valuable donations which he received from his people at the great annual festivals made him wealthy beyond all personal wants, and he gave freely to the needy.

One day, while standing on the top of the great dome [Sentinel Dome] above the south wall of the Valley, watching the great herds of deer, he saw some strange people approaching, bearing heavy burdens. They were fairer of skin, and their clothing was different from that of his people, and when they drew near he asked them who they were and whence they came.

And a woman replied, "I am Tis-sa'-ack, and these are some of my people. We come from _cat'-tan chu'-much_ (far South). I have heard of your great wisdom and goodness, and have come to see you and your people. We bring you presents of many fine baskets, and beads of many colors, as tokens of our friends.h.i.+p.

When we have rested and seen your people and beautiful valley we will return to our home."