00:00:10.640 - 00:00:38.570

mhm mm hmm. For at least 1000 years before the birth of jesus christ, a native people inhabited Yosemite. They were known as the sierra miwok and a small band from that tribe which lived in the valley was called the A. One itchy Here they live free

00:00:38.580 - 00:00:59.790

and simple, guided by the land's natural rhythm and cadence. When the Indian wars of the mid 19th century occurred and the state militia drove them out of what we now call Yosemite National Park. They had become an isolated, defiant tribe. Yet their descendants live among us

00:00:59.790 - 00:01:19.150

today struggling to preserve a heritage which has been almost lost. To tell this story of Yosemite's first people. You will hear the tales. The natives passed down through the generations a mix of fact, legend and myth repeated in their lodges on the reservations and in pleadings

00:01:19.150 - 00:01:39.740

before the white authorities from whom they ask just one thing, recognition that they exist have a name and deserve the fruits of the nation. They also call their own. Much of what we know about this conquered tribe was recorded by whites. You will hear excerpts from

00:01:39.740 - 00:02:12.310

the diaries and books of the white men who discovered the valley lived among the indians and Yosemite for generations. And who understood these almost forgotten people. Oh, according to indian legend, the great spirit gathered a band of his favorite Children and lead them into the mountains

00:02:12.320 - 00:02:40.860

on a long wearisome journey until they reached the valley, now known as Yosemite. Here the great spirit bade them rest and make their home Here they found food in abundance for all the streams were swarming with fish. The meadows were thick and clover, The trees and

00:02:40.860 - 00:03:01.320

bushes gave them acorns, pine nuts, fruits and berries while in the forests were herds of deer and other animals which gave them meat and skins for food and clothing. Here they multiplied and grew prosperous and built their villages. They called the valley a Wani and themselves

00:03:01.330 - 00:03:18.700

our Nici. As you look all along through the walls of Yosemite, you can see a lot of the water lines that come down along the banks and the grant. And to me it looked like look like tears of the elders. Tears of the elders on all

00:03:18.700 - 00:03:38.720

those walls, you can feel the energy there and as go around the valley and through the mountains and up in the different sacred areas that they used to talk about. You can feel that energy there. You can feel the, this is home, this is home, this

00:03:38.720 - 00:04:03.900

is where where the people lived once. Yeah, mm hmm. Mhm. The cycles and seasons of their lives were interrupted by the flow of human history. Mhm. In the latter part of the 18th century, California's Indians were besieged by Spanish missionaries who wanted their souls and then

00:04:03.900 - 00:04:28.250

Europeans and Americans who wanted to build personal empires, conflict was inevitable and even the haven of Yosemite could not protect the jajuan itchy. According to indian accounts of fatal black illness devastated the tribe. Those who survived fled Yosemite for many years, the valley was uninhabited until

00:04:28.250 - 00:04:51.710

chief deny gathered the remnants of his people and returned to Yosemite to reclaim what they called the deep grassy valley. It seemed they would survive. But then in 1848, gold was discovered in California and the natural world of the Awan itchy was torn apart. Yeah. Uh

00:04:51.710 - 00:05:15.930

huh mm. Mhm. Another one. What do you want us to do down here, Our mother? And how do we protect our families? And how do we make our offerings? And how do we learn? You show me the people that we need to learn from being. We

00:05:15.930 - 00:05:40.260

all have a walk of life, each one of us, but we have a lot of what we call spirit helpers in the traditional world. We call on them and our everyday life to to help us go through every day. And that type of sharing each one

00:05:40.260 - 00:06:05.800

of us has a a unique life that, you know, all of our experiences aren't the same. And so in order for us to survive, we need to share that. All right amongst each other. The report of the rich gold Diggins on the waters of the ptolemy,

00:06:05.810 - 00:06:25.280

mariposa and Fresno rivers soon spread and minors by the thousands came and took possession of the whole country, paying no regard to the natural rights or wishes of the indians. The indians saw that their main sources of food supply were being destroyed. The oak trees, which

00:06:25.280 - 00:06:42.520

produce the acorns were being cut down and burned by miners and the deer and other food game were being rapidly killed off to prepare for this struggle for existence. They made raids upon some of the principal trading posts in the mining sections. Kill those in charge,

00:06:42.700 - 00:07:18.200

took all the blankets, clothing and provisions they could carry away and fled to the mountains where they were soon pursued by the soldiers and volunteer citizens. You're 70 means a special place to live beauty, Peacefulness, quietness, Whatever I leave Yosemite and I come back, it's

00:07:18.200 - 00:07:44.840

just like like maybe um a place to shelter us to take care of us. Like maybe a mother. The breaking out of actual hostilities created great excitement among the whites and an urgent call was made upon the governor of the state for a military force to

00:07:44.840 - 00:08:01.780

meet the emergency. A force strong enough to thoroughly subdue all the indians and remove all of them to reservations. The Yosemite's and one or 2 other bands of Indians had refused to surrender and had retreated to their mountain stronghold where they proposed to make a last

00:08:01.790 - 00:08:32.960

determined resistance. Active preparations were accordingly made by the state authorities to follow them and either capture or exterminate all the tribes involved. Mhm This is my grandmother Louisa tom and she was the last person to be buried here in this pioneer cemetery in Yosemite valley Stephen.

00:08:34.540 - 00:09:04.990

I always felt that there was, there was some uh well you could call it bitterness or sadness that that we have, we lost our place here valley. And it was sacred to the indians in a way back then and it's still sacred to us today. A

00:09:04.990 - 00:09:25.400

body of state volunteers known as the Mariposa Battalion was organized under the command of Major James D Savage to pursue these tribes into the mountains. It was during this campaign that Major Savage and his men discovered the Yosemite Valley while in pursuit of the Yosemite's under

00:09:25.400 - 00:09:55.080

all chief, Tenaya. Yeah, wow. When Tonya left the tribe of his mother and went to live in a one E. He was accompanied by a very old one, Itchy who had been the great medicine man of his tribe. He assured 10aya that while he retained possession

00:09:55.080 - 00:10:12.060

of a Wani, his band would increase in numbers and become powerful that if he befriended those who sought his protection, no other tribe would come to the valley to make war upon him or attempt to drive him from it. No, he then cautioned the young chief

00:10:12.060 - 00:10:35.560

against the horsemen of the lowlands and declared that should they enter a Wani, his tribe would soon be scattered and destroyed his people taken captive and he himself be the last chief. Just walk. Just keep keep your faith that you're going to get over, Get over

00:10:35.560 - 00:10:58.120

the top. They are gathered below Bloody Canyon to revive a tradition that lives only in memory for centuries. Their ancestors made long journeys on foot to visit and trade with other tribes throughout the Sierra Nevada. Goodbye your health. Your thoughts between to rekindle this connection with

00:10:58.120 - 00:11:15.790

the past. These descendants will travel a route Once walked by the old ones. Their journey will take them from the east side of the Sierra to Yosemite Valley 50 miles in four days away. In this year of Yosemite's centennial. These native Americans will not walk in

00:11:15.790 - 00:12:26.970

celebration but to honor and remember those who passed this way. The little pine. It's for your good luck Julia. I'll see you. Yeah. Yeah. Give me. Mhm. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah hurt yourself pretty just just real. Mhm. I've heard stories of

00:12:26.980 - 00:12:45.110

great grandmother passing stories down run and hide. The soldiers are coming. I heard stories of this. The grandmother is telling us the soldiers are coming running hide and run and hide and so you can feel so you can see in your own mind the the disruption

00:12:45.120 - 00:13:08.730

of this beautiful place that was once quiet and peaceful. Yeah. Upon a special envoy being sent to the chief he appeared the next day in person. He came alone and stood in dignified silence before one of the guard. He was immediately recognized as Tenaya Chief of

00:13:08.740 - 00:13:23.820

the Yosemite's savage told him that if he would go to the commissioners and make a treaty of peace with them. There would be no more war. Tonight I said my people do not want anything from the great father. You tell me about The great spirit is

00:13:23.820 - 00:13:41.390

our father, and he has always supplied us with all. We need let us remain in the mountains where we were born. Where the ashes of our fathers have been given to the winds. And I saw this figure standing way up on top and I turned around

00:13:41.390 - 00:14:00.100

to my friend and I pointed up and we whispered, We have to go way up there yet. But seeing that person up there, or that figure, that silhouette up there, It gave me it gave me more strength to go to continue the walk. It also reminded

00:14:00.100 - 00:14:22.610

me of of Tenaya standing in the distance, watching his people, standing up there, looking down, taking care of us. And so it gave me strength to go to keep on going. Mm hmm! As Tonya walked toward the camp, his eye fell upon the dead body of

00:14:22.610 - 00:14:40.880

his favorite son which still lay where he had fallen? He halted for a moment without visible emotion except a slight quivering of his lips as he approached Captain Bowling, he began in a highly excited tone. Kill me, Sir, Captain? Yes! Kill me! As you killed my

00:14:40.880 - 00:14:54.470

son. As you would kill my people. If they were to come to you, you would kill all my race! If you had the power, you can tell your warriors to kill the old chief. You have made me sorrowful. My life! Dark! You killed a child of

00:14:54.470 - 00:15:22.460

my heart. Why not kill the father fate was as unkind to Julia as it was to deny it. Five days before the walk began, Julia lost one of her Children. Her oldest daughter Virginia died from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. She was a very vivacious

00:15:22.460 - 00:15:47.530

girl, very beautiful girl and very, very outgoing. But yet again, she had her own private ways about her. Lots of times I would just sort of start to cry and thinking about her. And so I felt that this walk to meant a trail of tears for

00:15:47.530 - 00:16:08.500

me too. Two get maybe get that out of my system um, to cry. But yet I had, I had to be in a control to cry. I couldn't just let go because I, I felt this was the responsibility for all the people that I had behind

00:16:08.500 - 00:16:29.350

me, Julia Parker's sense of responsibility to the past has long endured from the poem, a tribe. She is not native born to Yosemite But came here 42 years ago with her husband, who she met when she was orphaned to an Indian boarding school in Nevada. You're

00:16:29.360 - 00:16:45.690

enough people get in there, Julia adopted Yosemite as her own and has struggled to keep alive. Its native american traditions as the cultural demonstrator. In the indian village. The men's work was to hunt and to make the tools and the women's work was to make the

00:16:45.690 - 00:17:05.720

baskets and the food. So a woman was never ever taught to hunt and uh that what the reason is that women can give life, the men take life. The chief industry of the indian women was the making of baskets. They made a great variety of shapes

00:17:05.720 - 00:17:27.790

and sizes for their common use. Most of the baskets made for domestic use were so closely woven that they're practically watertight and are used for cooking and similar purposes. Yeah. Mhm. Dancing was an important part of all religious observances and was practiced purely as a ceremonial

00:17:28.250 - 00:17:44.770

and never for pleasure. Yeah. The great occasions for dancing were before going to war and when cremating the bodies of their dead. It is said that in their marital relations they were as a rule strictly faithful to each other. If the woman was found to be

00:17:44.770 - 00:18:02.940

guilty of unfaithfulness to her husband, the penalty was death. Their winter huts were invariably of a conical form made with small poles and covered with the bark of the incense cedar. One of these huts would hold a family of a half dozen persons with all their

00:18:02.940 - 00:18:26.560

household property. These indians believe that everything on earth, both natural and artificial, is endowed with an immortal spirit which is indestructible and that whatever personal property or precious gifts are burned will be received and made use of in the spirit world. So It at one time

00:18:26.940 - 00:18:56.760

was our land and uh today as I look around, it's your land, it's um your lab, but yet we're still here and down. I think as we think about it, in whose land, I think it belongs to all of us, waiting for us. Keeping out the

00:18:57.640 - 00:19:30.550

different evil ways that are on the outside. The first exploration by whites in and around Yosemite occurred in 1833. Then again in 1849, but no one came into the valley only approaching its grandeur from above. Then in the spring of 1851, the valley was finally entered

00:19:30.560 - 00:19:55.050

when soldiers pursued tonight and the survivors of his tribe Tonight, I told them later they were the first whites to ever enter the land of the a. one itchy. The date was March 27. Mm mm. Yeah. None but those who have visited this most wonderful valley

00:19:55.050 - 00:20:14.670

can even imagine the feelings with which I looked upon. The view that was here presented the grandeur of the scene was but softened by the haze that hung over the valley light as gossamer and by the clouds which partially dimmed the higher cliffs and mountains. This

00:20:14.670 - 00:20:49.110

obscurity of vision but increased the awe with which I beheld it. And as I looked, a peculiar exalted sensation seemed to fill my whole being and I found my eyes and tears with emotion. Mm hmm. After supper we gathered around the burning logs of oak and

00:20:49.110 - 00:21:12.470

pine. I suggested that this valley should have an appropriate name and proposed that we give the valley the name Yosemite as it was suggestive, euphonious and certainly american by so doing the name of the tribe of indians, perhaps never to return would be perpetuated sometime after

00:21:12.470 - 00:21:28.870

the name had been adopted. I learned from Major Savage that Tanya repudiated the name for the valley, but proudly acknowledged it as the designation of his band because they occupied the mountains and valleys which were the favorite resort of the Grizzly bears and his people were

00:21:28.870 - 00:21:50.630

expert in killing them pretty. His tribe had also adopted the name because those who had bestowed it were afraid of the Grizzlies and feared his band six a.m. At Mona Pass. It's the second day of the war At 10,600 ft. It is cold and windy and

00:21:50.630 - 00:22:07.300

after a hard night's rest, they are trying to shake the effects of the previous day's climb of almost 3000 ft. It's a good test for everybody. Yes. Things like this reminds you of what those old timers used to go through and we've got a lot of

00:22:07.300 - 00:22:24.460

conveniences up here today at the tents and sleeping bags and different types of food and stuff. You know, that's mostly pre made. And in the old days they didn't have all of it. A pretty tough struggle but it may have made them strong, made them stronger.

00:22:24.460 - 00:22:54.320

Maybe learn how to work with another earth. We asked the help of Mother Earth to protect us on our journey to the end. Mhm That's the four directions to Protect us on all four sides as well. Journey down our path of life. Mm hmm. The four

00:22:54.320 - 00:23:11.350

directions are our protection. We ask protection out there. We ask that all of our ancestry uh to the beginning of time to come join us in each of the directions. We start out with the east side all the time. We face the east. And we asked

00:23:11.840 - 00:23:28.000

ask that that when the sun comes up it brings the energy to keep us going to this day. Then we head to the south when we asked the same thing of the south for our ancestry to protect us. When I set the west carry us through

00:23:28.000 - 00:23:45.610

the day that we may be able to see you see the sunset on the west side and to keep us strong to keep us going through another day. Then we head towards the north and uh a lot of power from the north, lot of power up

00:23:45.610 - 00:24:06.410

there, we include Mother Earth and then the creator, we ask the creator to bring everything together to help us out. We ask you to make us strong, ask you to give us the knowledge. We need the wisdom that we need to carry this on. And as

00:24:06.410 - 00:24:30.260

we take from mother earth, we asked permission to to use her her plants to use her substance. And so when when using that we'd like to give something back to her in a special way because she's very very powerful and and very caring and she's just

00:24:30.640 - 00:25:00.340

just like a mother would be just like a grandmother would be so and try to give thanks back as we with our own family. Uh huh. We met the Yosemite's on their way to a rendezvous on the south

00:25:00.340 - 00:25:16.780

Fork As they filed past us. The major took account of their number, which was about 72 On being asked where the others of his band were. The old sacrum said this is all of my people that are willing to go with me to the plains. I

00:25:16.780 - 00:25:41.390

was told I was growing old but that young and strong men can find plenty in the mountains. Therefore why should they go to the yard id like horses and cattle. Mhm Okay mm I would have liked to been here about 2000 years ago and grasp onto

00:25:41.860 - 00:25:59.940

the old teachings to be free of this quote unquote civilized world. 37 year old marshal jack works in the sign shop for the park service. Marshall was born on the east side of the sierra in bishop California. Like many of the present day native americans who

00:25:59.940 - 00:26:20.740

live and work in Yosemite, he is of mixed blood, pardon me walk peyote wash. Oh our old way of life is most of it has been been tied up for bound up, shoved in a closet because of laws. It's like like if we're being caged up

00:26:20.740 - 00:26:38.800

in our own lands, not being able to, not being able to live like we once did. Marshall is one of the walk's organizers and he has assumed a very passionate and caring role in helping guide the group through this ancient indian trail for a long time.

00:26:38.800 - 00:26:58.980

He lived in a demanding world of two cultures, one white, the other native american. Four years ago, marshall returned to Yosemite in need of reconciliation. The alcohol was a very, very strong drug for me I guess. Uh, it overwhelmed me. I thought I was, I thought

00:26:58.980 - 00:27:11.370

I was going to pass on, uh, I don't know, I've been a bit of light kind of shine through up there and says marshall, you've got to turn your life around, you got to do something. And then I really started praying about it and I said,

00:27:11.370 - 00:27:28.500

okay, if you want me to leave southern California and then go on to something better. I'd like to go to use Emily. I'd like to see like to see Julia again when I think about it, he was a person who was really looking for a way

00:27:28.500 - 00:27:44.070

to go to, which way shall I turn? You know? So I just briefly heard about some of the problems, but that didn't bother me because I was looking at him as a person. I was looking at him as a young man who who needed, needed to

00:27:44.070 - 00:28:00.020

be accepted to, needed to be wanted and that's what we did. I think in the village, we accepted him and we and we helped him. I caught up real fast because I wanted wanted to clean myself up ah to get back into those old ways. And

00:28:00.020 - 00:28:19.140

once I've seen Julia, it was like like seeing my grandmother again and working with my grandmother and uh my grandmother was a very, very special person in my life, very emotional, very spiritual. And when she passed on it was, it was like like half of my

00:28:19.140 - 00:28:40.680

life I had just dropped out from underneath me because I just wasn't strong enough to hold up the other half yet. And Julia was the one that I was able to put me back together again. Uh huh. Uh huh wow! We now felt assured that our

00:28:40.680 - 00:28:59.530

presence was known in our movements, watched by the indians we were hoping to find moving rapidly on, we discovered near the base of El capitan a large collection of indian huts situated near Pigeon Creek On making a hasty examination of the village and vicinity. No indians

00:28:59.530 - 00:29:16.920

could be found. It was by this time quite clear that a large number of Tanya's band was hidden in the cliffs are among the rocky, gorgeous or canyons. I said when you were coming up that hill and you're huffing and puffing. I said now you know

00:29:16.920 - 00:29:46.450

how Custer felt when the indians were chasing him. Mhm, mm hmm. Yeah, I feel real happy and content and I feel really good. Mm hmm. But it's tough to be in India because of the traditional ways. And we've just like this walk for instance, we had

00:29:46.450 - 00:30:07.360

to go through a lot of uh red tape. We're starting to call white tape now because we have to wait on, on decisions that are made by people who have never understood this way of life. And higher marijuana's is on this walk. We were getting our

00:30:07.370 - 00:30:24.480

wilderness permit from the forest service and fire permits and stuff and one ranger was quoted him saying, well, uh huh. I don't, I don't think those, those indians should be taking some horses up those canyons because it's pretty tough. And we kind of giggled and laughed

00:30:24.480 - 00:30:40.070

a little bit and we said, you know, our ancestry have been taking horses all the way throughout this country for thousands and thousands of years. And here's this one man out here that's gonna going to accomplish his major task by saying, yeah, they shouldn't be taking

00:30:40.070 - 00:30:59.450

their horses up there and is things like that that really make it make it tough to be indian you kind of have some peaceful time here for ourselves and just just listen around, listen to the wind, look around, look around to the fallen trees. If you're

00:30:59.840 - 00:31:34.170

meadows and rocks. Four directions give facts in your own Norway. Did you get a picture of the deer? The detachment sent down the trail, reported the discovery of a small ranch area, a short distance above the cathedral rocks. But the huts were unoccupied. The other detachments

00:31:34.170 - 00:31:50.690

found Hudson groups, but no indians and all of these localities. The stores of food were abundant. We had not the time nor had we supplied ourselves sufficiently to hunt them out. It was therefore decided that the best policy was to destroy their huts and stores with

00:31:50.690 - 00:32:18.670

a view of starving them out. At this conclusion the destruction of their property was ordered and at once commenced. Mhm Our main main goal was to join the spirit of the east side and the west side again like it was done a long time ago. I

00:32:18.680 - 00:32:36.400

was trying to get those families together in a traditional way and to do that sharing again when you pray together, when you work together you walk together you're you make your offerings together and you want to share share that inner feeling and share your heart and

00:32:36.400 - 00:32:51.850

your eyes and your ears and everything with other people so they can understand so they can they can fulfill their life. Sometimes we get lost in our own in our own worlds but to see them struggling and and trying to help each other out and and

00:32:51.850 - 00:33:12.750

doing that personal, making that personal commitment to take on this walk. Uh my heart really went out to them. It was they're just like Children of the world and and they were learning and yeah mm Kind of brought about tears in my eyes because that's the

00:33:12.750 - 00:33:29.260

same thing I've I'd like to do with my Children to bring them up to make them strong in a traditional sense. And so as the families were joining together and walking over that you can just feel that energy of the ancestors just walking along walking along

00:33:29.260 - 00:34:01.500

and when we made that connection, that was what it was all about is to make that connection with the Alzheimer's up above. No, that's what it was all about. As I lowered my line of vision to the base of the cliff,

00:34:01.930 - 00:34:21.190

there appeared the indian village resting in fancied security upon the border of the most beautiful little lake. The Yosemite's had already discovered our approach but too late for any concerted resistance or for successful escape. The terror stricken indians immediately threw up their bare hands and token

00:34:21.190 - 00:34:48.980

of submission and piteously cried out peace, Peace. I feel that the spirits of this land are with us as we as we are walking right now and they're with us, they're helping us and and guiding us along. Okay though Yosemite is a national park. J johnson

00:34:48.980 - 00:35:07.260

still considers this his ancestral home. He can trace his roots here to the time of Tenaya In the 1830s. J's great grandmother, Susie Sam was born in the valley and jay's father worked in Yosemite as a guide in stage coach driver. That's smart dana. All right

00:35:07.740 - 00:35:33.430

to our right here. Mhm And mount gifts over to the south of that Jay Johnson was born in Yosemite 58 years ago. Very beautiful country. I could remember a lot of happy times in my childhood growing up here, playing in the rocks and hiking and swimming

00:35:33.680 - 00:35:54.470

and doing a lot of fishing. This is where J grew up in this area next to the Sunnyside campground. There was once an indian village to live here. One also had to work in the park. Small and number. Yosemite's native americans lived together as a tribe.

00:35:55.440 - 00:36:24.450

There were 15 houses in this area And it was built in 1930s and 31. Their house was located right right up on this little spot here, the house is consisted of two small bedrooms in the dining room and kitchen combined. So it was, It was actually

00:36:24.450 - 00:36:50.910

a three room house. The bedrooms were quite small in the dining room and kitchen were combined with cole water, cold running water and no hot water. And like I mentioned, we had the community restroom and bathhouse in the center over there. In the back today. I

00:36:50.910 - 00:37:10.350

look I see the think of the size of the house and I said, wow! You know, how could we all have uh stayed in the house. That small mm. Mhm. There were seven kids in Jay's family and when he was 12 his mother died, J attended

00:37:10.360 - 00:37:29.100

Indian boarding schools for six years to survive. He was taught to adopt the ways of the white man and they said that you could not speak your own language or sing your song, your tribal songs and it was forbidden there and and that was one of

00:37:29.100 - 00:37:50.400

the ways they brainwashed us by doing that mm. Mhm Jay is a foreman in Yosemite's Forestry Department and has worked for the park service since 1954 when he got out of the Marines, he fought for this country in Korea. And when he came home, jay wanted

00:37:50.400 - 00:38:12.270

to lay claim to his piece of America. He knows how difficult it is to retain the past. Mhm. Yeah. One thing I've always felt is that uh I knew I was an indian and I was always proud of it and you know, my my parents always

00:38:12.280 - 00:38:34.590

uh talk to me in that way. You know they said never to be ashamed of who you are or what you are. So I've I've learned to live that way too And I've always defended who I am and what I am 1969 to enlarge the nearby

00:38:34.590 - 00:38:59.360

campground park management destroyed the place in which J grew up Julia parker also lived there together. They remember but they did it on a year by year, maybe several, several homes a year until 69 when they burned the last one down and so by by moving

00:38:59.360 - 00:39:21.650

us out and putting us up in these other houses. They we're going to do that And that happened in 1969 and this is what 1990, There's still milk campgrounds there. Did you come by when that was happening? Yes, we we uh I watched it. They use

00:39:21.650 - 00:39:49.640

most of them as a uh fire for the fire brigade training. Well it was very sad. I know I stood there and I cried and it was like you were defeated. You're a defeated people and you had to listen and you had to follow their rules

00:39:50.320 - 00:40:16.160

that they were there their way was right and ours was wrong. And you were scared scared of losing your word, your job, scared of of just being a human being. Well, you know that was the last last of an era that that was going before her

00:40:16.160 - 00:40:46.230

eyes and uh huh some kind of sad feelings in the heart. That's how I felt I felt was to me it was the end of everything. We're just defeated. We don't have no say, we don't have no rights all hopes of avoiding a treaty or of

00:40:46.230 - 00:41:01.930

preventing their removal to the reservation. Appeared to have at once been abandoned. After collecting together all the Indians found in this encampment. The total number was found to be about 35. Nearly all of whom were in some way. A part of the family of the old

00:41:01.940 - 00:41:25.990

patriarch Tenaya. Mhm. These were escorted to our camp. The men were placed under guard but the women and Children were left free. They with apparent anxiety, expressed a willingness for the future to live in peace with the americans. Mhm. Though they had an understanding of the

00:41:26.000 - 00:41:45.070

route to be taken. Some of the walkers lost their way For a part of the journey. They walked along Highway 1 20 the Tioga Pass Road. Yeah, it's just one of those, well, the challenges we accept and uh walking down this road here is, it's just

00:41:45.070 - 00:42:19.690

like walking down the old trail in our hearts. Mhm. Yeah, mm. Mhm. On the third day of the wall, they left Wallaby Meadow and traveled until they reached to Niall Lake here they camped for the night on the lake's west end. On the fourth day they

00:42:19.690 - 00:42:47.970

walked from Snow Creek trail into deny a canyon Descending almost 2000 ft until they finally reached the valley floor. Yeah, right. But I hope for I hope to find a great spirit and some feelings within myself and that's what I found At most. There were 37

00:42:47.970 - 00:43:12.950

people on the walk picking up the journey at different locations on different days. 20 walked it from beginning to end, whites among them all native American, all of them reliving the past, hoping to learn from it, not letting it disappear. Their journey was finally over. Mm

00:43:12.950 - 00:43:30.910

hmm. I hope to see a lot of the families get back together again to work with each other and to share to share our common spirit so that they may be, will be able to help us along the way when we become elders. I think the

00:43:30.910 - 00:43:57.170

whole the whole walk brought us together as a family. It brought us together as people. It brought us together as individuals. Oh it was, it was full of people that passed on before us and of our ancestors that walked and over the trail maybe hundreds of

00:43:57.170 - 00:44:24.270

years. I just had that feeling that they were glad to see, to see what we were doing. All right, hey, we're here. What? Okay. In spite of Tanya's cunning, the prophecies of the old medicine man have been fulfilled. White horsemen have entered a Wani tribe has

00:44:24.270 - 00:44:56.790

been scattered and destroyed and Tanya the last chief of his people. You guys made it over. Yeah, that's done good. Yeah. In July of 1851, the Mariposa Battalion was mustered out of service. Their mission complete. They had removed tonight and his people to the Fresno River

00:44:56.790 - 00:45:12.730

reservation and the hot climate of the plains. But tonight I pleaded to return and by the end of the year he was allowed back home with just a few of his people Here they lived until 1852 when troops again came into Yosemite looking for Indians who

00:45:12.730 - 00:45:31.490

killed some miners. Five Yosemite's were captured and executed tonight have fled east across the Sierra to live with the mo nos. In 1853 teenagers. Life came to an end. He was killed by the Mo Nos and his people scattered. Never again to regroup as a tribe

00:45:31.500 - 00:45:51.650

or return to Yosemite as a unified people. It should be remembered. The A one itchy never signed a peace treaty, nor did they ever officially surrender the lands of Yosemite. Within a few short years, those who return to their once mystical homeland assimilated into a place

00:45:51.650 - 00:46:10.630

of commercial growth and tourism, the indian people became dependent on the white culture for their existence and through the years, native customs and traditions languished Today there are some 80 Indians who work in Yosemite And seven families who live there. Amy would like to say a

00:46:10.640 - 00:46:30.290

prayer ceremony in Yosemite's indian village to celebrate the end of the walkers pilgrimage here they affirm a moment of enormous cultural and ethnic pride. It is the kind of moment to seldom observed in the history of all California's indians. When the Spanish arrived here in the

00:46:30.290 - 00:46:52.510

1760s, there were 350,000 Indians. By the late 19th century. Only 30,000 were left 1970. Faced with the very real prospect of losing their entire tradition, they formed the American Indian Council of Mariposa County, A group of 1100. They not only want to preserve the past, but

00:46:52.510 - 00:47:17.380

to achieve tribal recognition. They are hopeful, but it has been a long, difficult struggle. Almost a decade ago, the council petitioned the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to be recognized as a distinct tribal people. Their claim is still under review. Just west of Yosemite, near the

00:47:17.380 - 00:47:36.450

town of Mariposa lived the descendants of Tenaya, 86 year old Jim Rust. His four generations removed from the old chief. Jim's grandmother lived with the a. one itchy when the soldiers came and captured tonight. Now Jim is the patriarch of these people, Children of a gold

00:47:36.450 - 00:47:56.190

rush legacy which believed the native was a dangerous animal lawful to destroy and that killing indians was a white man's duty. One of Jim's great grandchildren is a four year old boy and he is called Tenaya. The people of the bear clan are small in number.

00:47:56.200 - 00:49:26.080

They are committed to a future built on hope. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah, mm. Mhm. Yeah. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Mhm.