F I R S TP R E V647NEXTLAST

Ishi, the Last "Wild" Indian
In 1776 the Native American population of California was 300,000 but after 100 years of settlers and their diseases, it had plummeted to 20,000. Bay Area natives were especially hard hit as that was where most settlers were located. In 1911 a half-starved native was found hiding in a Oroville slaughterhouse. At age 60 he was the last of his tribe, the Yahi, and was dubbed the last "wild" Indian by the newspapers. News of his capture swept the country and he was soon placed in the care of the University of California at the San Francisco campus. Scared at first, the man never revealed his name and became known as Ishi, the Yahi word for man.

Once in San Francisco he rapidly adapted to his new environment–wearing western clothes albeit without shoes, and always maintained a cheerful demeanor. Through sign language and demonstration Ishi showed the university anthropologists how he fashioned tools, hunted, and survived. He proved to be an excellent archer. For five years he was shown the wonders of 'modern' civilization which he seemed to enjoy although he remained shy of women and disliked large crowds. On March 25, 1916 Ishi died in San Francisco of tuberculosis, a white man's disease.
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