Post by Okwes on Jan 29, 2008 17:57:08 GMT -5
New Yosemite Indian war: Tribes fight over place in history Paiutes call
Miwoks' park legacy 'a lie' January 28, 2008
A statue of "Chief Lemee," who was actually an Indian park employee who
danced in Miwok and Plains Indian regalia for visitors, occupies a place
at the Yosemite park museum, as does a photo showing the ceremony.
Members of the Paiute tribe contend the display, as well as others, are
historically inaccurate. Hector Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK – For centuries, the Mono Lake Paiutes and
the Miwok fought over Yosemite's natural and spiritual bounty.
Today, as the Southern Sierra Miwok plan to build a new Indian village
on 5 acres amid Yosemite Valley's pine and oak trees, several Sacramento
Paiute activists are challenging the park's version of history.
The Miwok already play too prominently in a replica Indian village
outside the park museum, the Paiute say.
For 50 cents, visitors can buy a brochure called "The Miwok in
Yosemite." There are few references to the Paiutes, who archaeologists
say came from the Eastern Sierra more than 10,000 years ago and fought,
traded and married Miwok from the west.
The new Yosemite Indian war pits cousin against cousin. At stake is the
recorded history of the national park, the fate of native remains and
who ultimately gets federally recognized as the true stewards of
Yosemite.
Yosemite's 3.6 million visitors a year – many of whom tour the
Indian museum and village – are being "taught a lie," said David
Andrews, a Sacramento Indian activist from the Walker River Paiute
reservation in northern Nevada.
The 800-member Southern Sierra Miwok say they're the ones keeping alive
native traditions in Yosemite. They have been seeking federal
recognition for 26 years.
Caught in the middle are park officials, who say their historical
exhibits represent Indians who lived in Yosemite in the early 20th
century – not thousands of years ago. They mentioned the Paiutes in
some of the displays at a refurbished exhibit hall that opened last
April.
"This is certainly a sensitive topic," said park spokesman Scott
Gediman. "We try to present the most up-to-date information, agreed upon
by current tribal members and academic sources."
Last month, the park sent a team of experts to Sacramento to meet with
angry Paiutes.
Joe Rhoan, 49, a Paiute from Roseville who's spent nine years trying to
get the Paiute story told, said he "went in there loaded for bear."
His great-grandmother Maria Lebrado – whose Indian name, To-tu-ya,
means Foaming Water – was a teenager in 1851 when the
government-sponsored militia, the Mariposa Battalion, burned villages
and ran out hundreds of Yosemite Indians they believed were killing gold
miners. In one park exhibit, she's called "The Last Survivor" of the
Mariposa Indian War.
Rhoan's grandparents grew up in Yosemite and lived in an Indian village
under Eagle Peak until the village was demolished in 1969. He said he
wants the park to give the Paiute people "their full recognition" by
labeling exhibits and Indian sites in the park as Paiute.
"They did say they'd look into the interpretive sign thing, it might
take a little time, they needed funding. I said, 'You know what, I'll
just get a screwdriver and some pliers – I can take signs down.' "
Rhoan enrolled in the South Sierra Miwok tribe from 1997 until 2002 but
quit after he learned the Miwok had authorized an archaeological dig at
Yosemite's Indian Caves. Rhoan believes the ground where they dug was
sacred.
When human remains are found on such digs, the Miwok are charged with
reburying them, said Miwok Chairman Tony Brochini. This infuriates
Rhoan.
Andrews said messing with Indian remains – and Indian history –
has triggered the curse of Tenaya, the Ahwahnee Indian chief who is at
least half Mono Lake Paiute. Every rockslide or accident in Yosemite is
evidence of Tenaya's curse, he said.
In 1851, after the Mariposa Battalion killed Tenaya's son, the old chief
was quoted by a battalion member, Dr. Lafayette Bunnell, as saying, "You
may kill me, sir, captain, but you shall not live in peace. I will
follow in your footsteps, I will not leave my home, but be with the
spirits among the rocks, the waterfalls, in the rivers and in the winds;
wheresoever you go, I will be with you. You will not see me, but you
will fear the spirit of the old chief, and grow cold."
Andrews, 54, said Tenaya's curse won't be lifted until the park stops
teaching lies.
Jay Johnson, right, a spiritual leader of the Southern Sierra Miwok,
visits the Yosemite site where he grew up, along with tribe Chairman
Tony Brochini. Hector Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com
Pat Rhoan, a member of the Paiute Indian tribe, visits his mother, Amy
Rhoan, in Oakhurst. "We're losing who we are," Pat Rhoan said. Hector
Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com
Rita Sago, right, and granddaughter Angie Kilcher, both of Sacramento,
visit Yosemite's Indian village on Saturday. They also took in the Miwok
sweat lodge and roundhouse there. "It's such a sacred and awesome
place." Sago said. "It gives you a sense of what this place was." Hector
Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com
Miwoks' park legacy 'a lie' January 28, 2008
A statue of "Chief Lemee," who was actually an Indian park employee who
danced in Miwok and Plains Indian regalia for visitors, occupies a place
at the Yosemite park museum, as does a photo showing the ceremony.
Members of the Paiute tribe contend the display, as well as others, are
historically inaccurate. Hector Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK – For centuries, the Mono Lake Paiutes and
the Miwok fought over Yosemite's natural and spiritual bounty.
Today, as the Southern Sierra Miwok plan to build a new Indian village
on 5 acres amid Yosemite Valley's pine and oak trees, several Sacramento
Paiute activists are challenging the park's version of history.
The Miwok already play too prominently in a replica Indian village
outside the park museum, the Paiute say.
For 50 cents, visitors can buy a brochure called "The Miwok in
Yosemite." There are few references to the Paiutes, who archaeologists
say came from the Eastern Sierra more than 10,000 years ago and fought,
traded and married Miwok from the west.
The new Yosemite Indian war pits cousin against cousin. At stake is the
recorded history of the national park, the fate of native remains and
who ultimately gets federally recognized as the true stewards of
Yosemite.
Yosemite's 3.6 million visitors a year – many of whom tour the
Indian museum and village – are being "taught a lie," said David
Andrews, a Sacramento Indian activist from the Walker River Paiute
reservation in northern Nevada.
The 800-member Southern Sierra Miwok say they're the ones keeping alive
native traditions in Yosemite. They have been seeking federal
recognition for 26 years.
Caught in the middle are park officials, who say their historical
exhibits represent Indians who lived in Yosemite in the early 20th
century – not thousands of years ago. They mentioned the Paiutes in
some of the displays at a refurbished exhibit hall that opened last
April.
"This is certainly a sensitive topic," said park spokesman Scott
Gediman. "We try to present the most up-to-date information, agreed upon
by current tribal members and academic sources."
Last month, the park sent a team of experts to Sacramento to meet with
angry Paiutes.
Joe Rhoan, 49, a Paiute from Roseville who's spent nine years trying to
get the Paiute story told, said he "went in there loaded for bear."
His great-grandmother Maria Lebrado – whose Indian name, To-tu-ya,
means Foaming Water – was a teenager in 1851 when the
government-sponsored militia, the Mariposa Battalion, burned villages
and ran out hundreds of Yosemite Indians they believed were killing gold
miners. In one park exhibit, she's called "The Last Survivor" of the
Mariposa Indian War.
Rhoan's grandparents grew up in Yosemite and lived in an Indian village
under Eagle Peak until the village was demolished in 1969. He said he
wants the park to give the Paiute people "their full recognition" by
labeling exhibits and Indian sites in the park as Paiute.
"They did say they'd look into the interpretive sign thing, it might
take a little time, they needed funding. I said, 'You know what, I'll
just get a screwdriver and some pliers – I can take signs down.' "
Rhoan enrolled in the South Sierra Miwok tribe from 1997 until 2002 but
quit after he learned the Miwok had authorized an archaeological dig at
Yosemite's Indian Caves. Rhoan believes the ground where they dug was
sacred.
When human remains are found on such digs, the Miwok are charged with
reburying them, said Miwok Chairman Tony Brochini. This infuriates
Rhoan.
Andrews said messing with Indian remains – and Indian history –
has triggered the curse of Tenaya, the Ahwahnee Indian chief who is at
least half Mono Lake Paiute. Every rockslide or accident in Yosemite is
evidence of Tenaya's curse, he said.
In 1851, after the Mariposa Battalion killed Tenaya's son, the old chief
was quoted by a battalion member, Dr. Lafayette Bunnell, as saying, "You
may kill me, sir, captain, but you shall not live in peace. I will
follow in your footsteps, I will not leave my home, but be with the
spirits among the rocks, the waterfalls, in the rivers and in the winds;
wheresoever you go, I will be with you. You will not see me, but you
will fear the spirit of the old chief, and grow cold."
Andrews, 54, said Tenaya's curse won't be lifted until the park stops
teaching lies.
Jay Johnson, right, a spiritual leader of the Southern Sierra Miwok,
visits the Yosemite site where he grew up, along with tribe Chairman
Tony Brochini. Hector Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com
Pat Rhoan, a member of the Paiute Indian tribe, visits his mother, Amy
Rhoan, in Oakhurst. "We're losing who we are," Pat Rhoan said. Hector
Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com
Rita Sago, right, and granddaughter Angie Kilcher, both of Sacramento,
visit Yosemite's Indian village on Saturday. They also took in the Miwok
sweat lodge and roundhouse there. "It's such a sacred and awesome
place." Sago said. "It gives you a sense of what this place was." Hector
Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com