Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Ishi, Last of His Tribe by Theodora Kroeber, Ruth Robbins ISBN: 0-395-27716-7 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Pub. Date: 01 January, 1964 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $7.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.15 (13 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Ishi: Touching Story of Cruelty to Native American
Comment: The book, Ishi: Last of His Tribe, by Theodora Kroebar is a well written book, which deeply describes the life of a Yana Indian. The Yana are one of the last Native America Indian Tribes left in America. She uses great adjectives and indian words to help the readers understand. People who are intrigued by Native Americans, wars, teenage lives, and the true cruelty of human beings will be interested in reading Ishi. Ishi is a young Yana indian boy, on the verge of manhood, getting ready for the responsibilities of having to feed and fend for his family who have supported Ishi his whole life, and have a family of his own. A group of white poeple come to the lands of the Yana and try to capture the land that has belonged to Yana tribes for centuries. The white poeple slaughter the Yana tribes unmercifully, and take the land for themselves. Ishi has to watch the people he has grown up with his whole existance and the ways of his people be demolished, and he is left alone in the world. Ishi teaches people who read it a part of American history which is normally not talked about or read about. The book uses the non-fiction happenings of the Yana and adds fictional situations and turns Ishi into a beautiful story of hate and overcoming obstacles. As I read the book, I felt mixed emotions. I felt proud at being able to identify with Ishi. Ishi was the last of his people, he really did not have much to life for, and no one was left that he could relate to. Everyone feels alone and outcast at some point in their lives, and this book helps people understand and relate to Ishi and how he feels. He was a truthful, deep, spititual person and he was plucked from his life and tossed into a world which was strange and new to him. If any of the readers have ever had to move from one town to another, they know what Ishi is feeling. I also felt hatered towards how the white men ignorantly destroyed this peaceful tribe's way of life without even feeling remorse for their actions. It is horrible how the just slaughtered the tribe, with 'fire sticks' and scalped the Yana for money. It is repulsing how the white men treated the Yana and all the Native Americans, who were on this continent before us and had been living respectably and peacefully, and had such a deep understanding of the land and how to treat it and use it wisely. Ishi was easy to comprehend, with the wordings of Theodora Kroeber. Everyone in America should know about what happened to the innocent Yana tribes and the innocent Yana people, such as Ishi, and see American history for what it really is, and what it really was and what the invading, torturous, white man and his government did to begin the longest war in history (500 years) against the peaceful, loving, spiritual NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN.
Rating: 5
Summary: Ishi, the last of his tribe: NOT the "last wild indian"
Comment: I've read this historical novel aloud to both "regular" fifth graders and to Special Education children. All of them have become entranced with Kroeber's wonderful descriptions of day-to-day Yahi life, and with Ishi's tragic story. The fact that Ishi was a real person made it even more tangible to them. This story is undoubtedly romanticized, but it describes life as it probably really was for a small surviving group of California Indians during the encroachment of the "Saldu" (foreigners). They try valiantly to retain the vestiges of their very complex culture, but tragedy inevitibly ensues. The majority of the book describes Ishi's life before he personally came in contact with the White people he has feared and from whom he has hidden during most of his life. It's difficult to find books that accurately describe Native American life pre-contact, in a way that is understandable to young children. I highly recommend this book, especially if you can tie in some of the recent controversy about Ishi's brain, which was removed from his body for study after his death (against his explicit wishes) and was only recently repatriated to Native California people. It's a great lead-in for a discussion about Native People's rights in modern America.
Karen Garcia
Rating: 5
Summary: ISHI, Last of His Tribe
Comment: Over the years, I have developed a fascination for history, and Author Theodora Kroeber's story of ISHI, LAST OF HIS TRIBE certainly did not disappointment me.
Although this story may be subject to a certain amount of romanticism on the part of the Author, I found this version of Ishi's life easy to read and very enlightening. Kroeber's story of Ishi is written with warmth and sympathy, which gives us a
deeper understanding of the harsh treatment of the peaceful Yahi Indians. It provides a glimpse of how Ishi must have thought and felt; about himself, about others, and about the world around him. The Author weaves Ishi's story in a way that makes you feel as though you are there; experiencing what he experienced, struggling as he struggled. Ishi's highly peaceful nature is apparent in his extraordinary capacity towards forgiveness, despite their harsh treatment by the Saldu (white man).
I have often wondered how the Indians, especially Indians in the Northern regions, managed to survive the winter. This story provides a great deal of information about their daily life, giving us insight into their extensive knowledge for survival.
Smoking and drying of fish and meat, and storing of the y'una (acorn) barely provided them with the sustenance they needed for the winter, yet they managed to survive.
The myth that California Indians were a simple and childlike race, living only on what they could dig up from the ground, was certainly discounted with this book. Conversely, the Indians showed great wisdom and deep respect for the land, as well as
the creatures who inhabited it, being careful to preserve the land while effectively living off it. Their knowledge was then handed down from generation to generation, ensuring their success for the future - at least, until the Saldu arrived.
In truth, the treatment of the Indians by the Saldu was appalling. Early settlers had little respect for the Indians, forcing them to change their way of life, otherwise die. Sadly, Ishi spent most of his life hiding from the white man - staying downwind, living discreetly and quietly, staying off main trails and covering his tracks - living in fear of discovery. When the rest of his tribe was gone, Ishi's loneliness must have been unbearable. But Ishi was a wise man and a survivor, and he had learned that not all men were evil. His time at the Museum became acceptable - a time of plentiful food, of making friends - but more importantly a time to ensure that the history of his people would not die with him.
After reading this book, it was disturbing to discover that Ishi's brain was retained by Berkeley and the Smithsonian Institute for study after his death. Although one might understand the scientific fascination with this last member of the Yahi, this action clearly violated Ishi's own cultural belief about keeping the body whole for cremation, and his personal beliefs should have been respected. It is not surprising that a debate over scientific rights and human rights resulted, and it was nearly 100 years before Ishi's brain was returned to the Indian people, affording him the final peace and dignity that he rightfully deserved.
I have been enriched by the story of Ishi. It is a story I hope
future generations will utilize for studying the life of the California Indian. Ishi's story provides not only his language and culture, but his insight, feelings and experiences. This unique chance to share such a special part of California's past might otherwise have been lost, and I am grateful to those who had the insight to preserve this important piece of history.
'aiku tsub - " it is good "
 |
Title: Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America by Theodora Kroeber, Karl Kroeber ISBN: 0520229401 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 07 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: Ishi the Last Yahi: A Documentary History by Robert Fleming Heizer, Theodora Kroeber, Robert F. Heizer ISBN: 0520043669 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1981 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title:Ishi - The Last Yahi ASIN: 6303402461 Publisher: Koch Vision/Shanachie Video Pub. Date: 03 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $19.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $19.98 |
 |
Title: Ishi in Three Centuries by Karl Kroeber, Clifton Kroeber ISBN: 0803227574 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
 |
Title:The Last of His Tribe ASIN: 6302452929 Publisher: Hbo Studios Pub. Date: 06 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $9.94 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $9.94 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
