Description
Book SynopsisA life story of Ishi, the Yahi Indian, lone survivor of a doomed tribe, who stumbled into the twentieth century on the morning of August 29, 1911, when, desperate with hunger and with terror of the white murderers of his family, was found in the corral of a slaughter house near Oroville, California.
Trade Review"Let me put it to you in these terms: If you read no other book this year, you must read this one." * Los Angeles Times *
"A highly original literary work and a great human story. . . . stirring and fascinating." * San Francisco Chronicle *
"A book that all Americans should read." * New York Times *
"This book is remarkably lively and interesting anthropology." * Atlantic *
"Kroeber's book, one of the few scholarly volumes of this [the 20th] century to reach the best seller list, presents a sensitive and sympathetic discussion of this 'stone age' man. . . . As a biography, this book is remarkable. As a reference work on central California ethnology it is outstanding. As a record of acculturation-of carefully observed sudden impingement of one culture upon another-it is unique, and its record of psychological reactions is worthy of careful note." * American Anthropologist *
"The story of Ishi is indescribably sad. Theodora Kroeber has told it concisely, factually, sympathetically, and beautifully. She has avoided the excesses of pathos or condemnation to which such a story lends itself." * Ethnohistory *
“One of the first widely read books to offer an unvarnished account of the near-extermination of indigenous Californians in the late 19th century. . . . [which] remains a staple of that state’s high-school curriculum.” * Chronicle of Higher Education *
"If we wish to know something of the inhabitants of this continent before Western Man arrived, what is surely known of them, what they believed, what our part was in their ultimate fate, this book can give many answers. And the answers are truly moving, elements of drama and high tragedy." * American Scientist *
"Kroeber's book, one of the few scholarly volumes of this [the 20th] century to reach the best seller list, presents a sensitive and sympathetic discussion of this 'stone age' man. . . . As a biography, this book is remarkable. As a reference work on central California ethnology it is outstanding. As a record of acculturation-of carefully observed sudden impingement of one culture upon another-it is unique, and its record of psychological reactions is worthy of careful note." * American Anthropologist *
"Through it all, Ishi emerges a man, an individual; always a man who himself embodied not only the history of his people, but also an acceptance of the world that destroyed them. That she has been able to accomplish this blend of personal reality and symbol, while at the same time telling an important story, is Mrs. Kroeber's triumph." * Social Forces *
"Either as an historical or ethnographic document, or as the moving narrative of an appealing human being, this book must be regarded as a truly worthwhile addition to the literature." * Journal of American Folklore *
"One of the reasons that Ishi stands out so clearly is that Mrs. Kroeber has recon- structed this background history with such thoroughness and skill. The biography does justice to the man and his two worlds." * Pacific Historical Review *
"The extremely readable, seemingly effortless style produced by Theodora Kroeber is that of a master craftsman. . . . The techniques which Mrs. Kroeber applies to the handling of historical materials are well worth study by anyone interested in presenting history in valid, yet interesting, form." * Hispanic American Historical Review *
"A unique and vividly written account of the successive steps in the extinction of an aboriginal California people." * Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science *
"Kroeber, after compiling all the facts with careful research and questioning, has produced a beautifully written, fascinating, and accurate book." * Pacific Northwest Quarterly *
"
Ishi is probably the best book concerning American Indians yet written. Were one to read no other book about American Indians, this one would do." * Arizona and the West *
"All in all, this is a perceptive and humane study of Ishi by a writer of sensitivity and intuition." * Plains Anthropologist *
“A remarkable book.” * Oregonian *
Table of ContentsPART ONE: ISHI THE YAHI
Prologue: Outside the Slaughter House
1 Copper -colored People on a Golden Land
2 A Living People
3 A Dying People
4 Episodes in Extermination
5 The Long Concealment
6 The Yahi Disappear
PART TWO: MISTER ISHI
Prologue: Outside the Jail
7 Ishi's New World
8 Life in a Museum
9 The Craftsman
10 The Brightest Year
Epilogue: Death in a Museum
Notes
Bibliography
