It soon became evident that the people of Oroville considered the man a curiosity , a relic of the past rather than a threat . He was treated with both kindness and ridicule , given clean clothes , bought ice cream yet laughed at for trying to eat a banana skin and all , teased by local boys . The man labeled a “ wild man ” and “ cave man ” by newspapers rose each morning in dignity , bathing before facing the sunrise .
A few days after the man ’ s “ capture ,” T . T . Waterman , an envoy from the University of California , travelled to Oroville and was given “ custody ” of the man by federal authorities . He was taken by train , ferryboat , and trolley to the university ’ s new anthropological museum in San Francisco . Because the man steadfastly refused to give his name , the professors at the museum named him Ishi — man in Yana , a language related to Yahi .
Not long after his arrival in San Francisco , Ishi was asked to tell some Yahi stories by Professor Waterman . Ishi began to sing the story of Wood Duck , U-Tut-Ne . Wood Duck was looking for a wife , Ishi began . For hours Ishi poured forth his tale , singing , pantomiming , and making animal sounds . Skunk Woman , Waterbug Woman , Turtle Woman , and many other women were attracted to Wood Duck ’ s singing . But though Wood Duck gave gifts to each of them he did not choose to marry any of them . Finally he fell in love with someone but she loved another . She chose Lizard . Wood Duck fought with Lizard and was killed . Later he was miraculously reborn , but in the end did not find a wife . The next day , eager to record the story , Ishi enthusiastically repeated the entire tale into a phonograph recorder . Each of the wax cylinders could only record three minutes so Professor Waterman had to replace the cylinders fifty-one times !
Over the next five years , Ishi made many friends in his new community near the museum . Ishi often visited a small boy named Fred Zumwalt Jr ., who lived near Mountain Lake . Ishi nicknamed the boy Mut Jr . He taught the boy about the wondrous hidden world of beings all around . An aging Zumwalt remembered years later , “ We lay on our stomachs and held our noses to the ground taking in the aroma of minerals and water and living creatures that had passed by or lived nearby .” Ishi also taught the boy to be kind to those that were hurt . The old Presidio grounds were not far from Mut Jr .’ s house . They would often visit the injured soldiers at the nearby military hospital . Ishi would always go around like an old friend to the men , giving out those smiles of his or some small thing he had made . Sometimes when a patient was very ill he would sing a song trying to heal the man .
During the spring of 1914 Ishi accompanied a group of scientists back to his tribal homeland , the wild bluffs and canyons of Deer and Mill Creeks . It was here that as a boy he had learned the proper way to sing , dance , and tell a story . Ishi told plenty of stories and sang plenty of songs during the nineteen-day trip . What stunned his companions though was Ishi ’ s knowledge of the tribal names and stories associated with the hundreds of hills and rocks and caves . Each part of the landscape seemed a part of his tribal memory , a memory filled with stories of wondrous and sometimes frightening beings . Beside Deer Creek , at a place he called Ya ’ muluk ( Bear ’ Claw Place ), Ishi pantomimed a story about killing a bear when he was young . When scientists and wranglers expressed doubt about the truthfulness of the story , Ishi went over and dug around near a black boulder before pulling out the bones of an old bear claw .
The next year Dr . Edward Sapir agreed to come to California and work with Ishi to translate his language and stories into English . He was one of the few people who knew some Yana . Ishi moved across the bay from San Francisco to Berkeley for the summer and stayed with his old friend Waterman , who he called Watanany , and his family . Mrs . Waterman enjoyed cooking for Ishi and their two-year old daughter Helen loved to play with him . It was probably the closest to family life that Ishi had felt for many years . He and the professor slept out on the porch like kids .
Day after day that summer Ishi met with Dr . Sapir at the University of California . Ishi sang many Yahi songs and told stories about Trickster Coyote , Lizard , and other gods and creatures in the Yahi world . Professors and students alike stopped to listen to Ishi ’ s singing and pantomimes . He also surprised Sapir by knowing songs and stories from other tribes that neighbored the Yahi homeland , like the Maidu , Wintu , and Atsugewi . Often Ishi and the doctor sat near Strawberry Creek , which flows through the campus . Perhaps it reminded him of Deer Creek . Waterman worried about Ishi working so hard but Ishi seemed determined to leave a legacy , the songs and stories of his people , behind .
On March 25 , 1916 , Ishi , the last Yahi storyteller and friend to so many , died . His friend Waterman said , “ He was the best friend I had in the world .” Students all over the United States mourned and held memorials . Gradually the memory of this remarkable man began to fade from history , his celebrity fading away on yellowing newspapers , his songs and stories deteriorating on wax cylinders , and the tools he fashioned from wood and stone filed and stored in boxes at the university .
Ishi ’ s life had been filled with stories and he had delighted in sharing them , and they were still in the hearts of many people . Theodora Kroeber ’ s Ishi in Two Worlds , a story of
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▼ NEWS FROM NATIVE CALIFORNIA