Rating: 
Summary: This book will make you more human
Review: This is an incredibly well-written account of a solemn, sad, stone age man, calling himself Ishi, who wandered one day out of the forest into 20th century California civilization. For background information -- the author, Theodora Kroeber, was the wife of one of the men privileged to be Ishi's friends, Alfred Kroeber. Dr. Alfred Kroeber was a very important American anthropologist early in this century -- a student of Franz Boas, and a parent, with Theodora, of the writer Ursula K. (for Kroeber) LeGuin. Theodora Kroeber, at any rate, was in an excellent position to tell Ishi's story from the inside, and she does a fantastic job of it.Perhaps it's significant that this, the most impactful account of Ishi, was written NOT by an anthropologist, but by an anthropologist's wife. She was able to think simply as a non-"objective" fellow human being, and she talks about Ishi with great warmth and sympathy. Think for a moment of what it might be like to be wholly unacquainted with even the rudest, most fundamental elements of civilization, and to need to fit in. Ishi met this challenge, in his own time, and in his own way. You will never forget his story. I would just like to add, very quickly, that even today Ishi's story is sometimes lived out anew. In Massachusetts, several public schools have taken in students from tiny villages in the Sudan. These students are learning for the first time in their lives of such things as writing, money, and shoes. Stairs, of all things, are very confusing to some of them. I don't even want to think about what they make of such overwhelmingly powerful modern developments as the atom bomb, shopping malls, or Britney Spears. Ishi's story is timeless, yet timely for all who choose to ponder it. This book is amazing. One billion thumbs up.
Rating: 
Summary: Twentieth Century Time Traveler
Review: This poignant portrayal of the most dramatic culture clash in American history reads like a literary bio-drama. Theodora Kroeber's exhaustive research and respectful treatment of aboriginal heritage provide accurate details of a successful Indian culture, which so-called Civilization had effaced from the earth by 1911. Starting with the geology and anthropology of the Yana and Yahi tribes (north of San Francisco Bay), she recreates their vanished lifstyle. Part One describes the relatively peaceful existence of local native American tribes who learned to coexist both with Nature and each other. But the advent of the white man destroyed the fragile ecological and social balance which had existed for centuries, as Yankees and Hispanics gradually encroached on Indian territory--scorning their customs as "savage." Ishi's tribe was hated and ultimately hunted into extinction. Himself the last survivor, he staggered into a frontier town, gaunt, ragged and in mourning-- expecting instant death. Having lost touch with the last human beings who understood his pre-Columbian world, he had nothing to live for. Part Two compassionately depicts his amazing metamorphosis from the last wild man to Mr. Ishi. He never revealed his true Indian name to any white man, but accepted the generic word, "Ishi" as his new name which simply means, Man. He emerges as a surprisingly gentle person, who adapted successfully to life in the modern world. Making friends with selected Americans, learning to live and almost thrive in the municipal jungle, he earned respect and admiration for his "primitive" skills. In fact Ishi left indelible memories upon those who were privileged to know him well and enjoy his company. His sentimental jouurney back into his past and former territory was well documented in photographs and (now disintegrated) film. What a privilege it must have been to observe this calm and dignified man demonstrate lost customs and survival skills. From warrior to janitor/custodian this honorable man maintined his human dignity in all aspects of 20th century life, until his untimely death from TB five years later. In fact Ishi-made artifacts are treasured in Bay Area museums. One wonders if we of the modern world could adapt so well or philosophically to conditions so foreign as a trip through generations of Western achievement; how would we cope if we were transported forward in time by several centuries? Ishi adapted with grace and courtesy, inadvertantly causing us to wonder who the real "savages" are/were. But this book is not a racist guilt trip--rather it proves a personal odyssey which can teach and touch us all.
Rating:
Summary: Twentieth Century Time Traveler
Review: This poignant portrayal of the most dramatic culture clash in American history reads like a literary bio-drama. Theodora Kroeber's exhaustive research and respectful treatment of aboriginal heritage provide accurate details of a successful Indian culture, which so-called Civilization had effaced from the earth by 1911. Starting with the geology and anthropology of the Yana and Yahi tribes (north of San Francisco Bay), she recreates their vanished lifstyle. Part One describes the relatively peaceful existence of local native American tribes who learned to coexist both with Nature and each other. But the advent of the white man destroyed the fragile ecological and social balance which had existed for centuries, as Yankees and Hispanics gradually encroached on Indian territory--scorning their customs as "savage." Ishi's tribe was hated and ultimately hunted into extinction. Himself the last survivor, he staggered into a frontier town, gaunt, ragged and in mourning-- expecting instant death. Having lost touch with the last human beings who understood his pre-Columbian world, he had nothing to live for. Part Two compassionately depicts his amazing metamorphosis from the last wild man to Mr. Ishi. He never revealed his true Indian name to any white man, but accepted the generic word, "Ishi" as his new name which simply means, Man. He emerges as a surprisingly gentle person, who adapted successfully to life in the modern world. Making friends with selected Americans, learning to live and almost thrive in the municipal jungle, he earned respect and admiration for his "primitive" skills. In fact Ishi left indelible memories upon those who were privileged to know him well and enjoy his company. His sentimental jouurney back into his past and former territory was well documented in photographs and (now disintegrated) film. What a privilege it must have been to observe this calm and dignified man demonstrate lost customs and survival skills. From warrior to janitor/custodian this honorable man maintined his human dignity in all aspects of 20th century life, until his untimely death from TB five years later. In fact Ishi-made artifacts are treasured in Bay Area museums. One wonders if we of the modern world could adapt so well or philosophically to conditions so foreign as a trip through generations of Western achievement; how would we cope if we were transported forward in time by several centuries? Ishi adapted with grace and courtesy, inadvertantly causing us to wonder who the real "savages" are/were. But this book is not a racist guilt trip--rather it proves a personal odyssey which can teach and touch us all.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless
Review: This was one of the most fascinating and thought provoking books I have ever read. It is a beautifully written book that brings with it an entire range of emotions from rage and disgust, to hope and forgiveness. I thought that the best part about this book was the look into Ishi's Yahi and Yana culture, and its overview of California indian tribes in general. The myth that the Californian indians were a simple and childlike race subsisting on what they could dig from the ground is thoroughly debunked by this book. California's varied geography produced one of the most culturally diverse places on planet earth prior to white settlement. Interestingly, this belief that California is made up of many sub-states still exists, and books have been written about the various regional differences within California. The same was true for the aboriginal tribes, and Kroeber brings amazing facts to light about this. According to Kroeber, California was made up of 250 distinct tribes, many with their own languages, culture, and customs. Of the six super-languauge groups of North American Indians, 5 were represented in California. According to best estimates, these five language groups divided themselves into 113 distict spoken languages. Only Sudan and New Guinea have comparable cultural and linguistic diversity. One fact that floored me was that the Yahi language was bifurcated between a male and female dialect. Males and females used these dialects when they were in groups of their own sex. When a male reached puberty, he was taken from the care of his mother and other women, and lived in almost an exclusively male world were he learned the male dialect and hunting skills. Kroeber opens the book with this linguistic/cultural look at California indian culture just prior to white migration, and goes into great detail about Ishi's tribal culture in particular. (We even get a lesson on the term "glottochronology" which is the study of the roots of a particular language). About a third of the book is this background, and I found it to be absolutely fascinating. The book also spends considerable time on the extermination of the Northern California indians and Ishi's tribe in particular. Of course, these accounts are horrible and no less disturbing than accounts of the Jewish holocaust. The indians were seen as varmits, and they were exterminated with the same attitude that the wolves, grizzlies, and other unwanted wildlife were exterminated. Of course, this was not the attitude of all whites, but not enough of them stood up to stop the carnage. Beyond the stories of human slaughter, racism and genocide, the greatest tragedy was that cultures, which existed with amazing complexity and richness for centuries, were obliterated and replaced with a white mono-culture within 15 - 20 years. The last third of the book deals with Ishi's discovery and how he lived his remaining days under the care of the authors husband, an anthropologist at UC Berkeley. The relationship between the anthropology department at Berkeley and Ishi was one of the only beneficial outcomes of the collision between Anglo and Native cultures. Ishi (not his real name, but a pseudonym he adopted after capture) is given a room at the anthropology museum and is made assistant janitor to help cover his living expenses. It is during this time that he imparts his language and culture to save it from oblivion and to provide future generations, like myself, the ability to learn about Yahi life. Ishi is also treated with respect and dignity, and despite a life of mistreatment, Ishi shows no resentment or bitterness towards white society. I believe the main injustice done to Ishi by Berkeley was that after his death they allowed the removal of his brain for study, in direct violation of his cultural beliefs about keeping the body whole for cremation. His brain was sent it to the Smithsonian Institute where it was kept in storage for almost 100 years. This was unnescesary, and it has taken almost an entire century to return his brain and provide final dignity to this man.
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