MONOCULTURE | A Recent History

Ishi (ca.1860-1916) was known as the last survivor of Yahi people, largely massacred by white settlers during California’s genocides. Having spent most of his life in concealment from genocidal attacks on his people, desperate and starving, he came out of hiding in 1911 near the valley town Oroville, California. He was taken away for safety to the University of California’s Museum of Anthropology where he lived the rest of his life under the care of the University staff. Theodora Kroeber (1897–1979) was an American writer and anthropologist famous for her translations of Native American narratives and her accounts of the life and culture of the Yahi. She has received first-hand knowledge about the “discovery” of Ishi and his life in the white man’s world from her husband, cultural anthropologist Alfread Kroebler (1876–1960), known as Ishi’s trusted friend. The book tells Ishi’s story in two parts: the first one, titled Ishi the Yahi, is a reconstruction of the culture and life of the Yahi people, while the second, Mister Ishi, describes how he has come to be called Ishi (which means "man" in Yana language) as well as his encounter with modern American culture during his life at the museum.

Theodora Kroeber’s book was published forty-five years after the death of “the last of the Yahi”. Unlike the late 19th-early 20th century dispassionate and purely documentary anthoropological writings, her book pays attention to the tragic events of genocide of Indigenous Americans and Ishi’s complex inner world and psychological struggles. The postcolonial critiques of anthropological ways of seeing evoked controversies and complex moral questioning about Ishi’s story. In 2003, the sons of Theodora Kroeber, Clifton and Karl Kroeber co-edited and published an anthology of essays on Ishi's story. While Ishi in Two Worlds remained the first and the primary source of information on his life, the volume gathers Ishi’s story and its perception by numerous professionals, including contributions by Indigenous American writers and artists. The raising of attention to the destiny of the last known member of the Yahi was triggered by repatriation claims and much media speculation. While Maidu Indians accused anthropologists and claimed that it would have been better for him to live among related ‘native’ people, other Indigenous Americans rejected his legacy for his decision to stay with white people. As the last chapter of the anthology demonstrates, in the contemporary world, “more multiprofiteering than multicultural”, the story of Ishi goes onto both inspire and produce paradoxes.