"Mariposa Indian Encampment, Yosemite Valley, California" by Albert Bierstadt, ca. 1872

Chief George Dick

The Ahwahnechee (also known as Ahwahnees and Ahwahneechee) are a Native American people who traditionally lived in the Yosemite Valley. They are related to the Northern Paiute and Mono tribes. The Ahwahnechee people's heritage can be found all over Yosemite National Park.^[1]

History [link]

The Ahwahnechee lived in Yosemite Valley for centuries.^[2] European-American contact began after 1833. In 1851, during the Mariposa War, California State Militia troops of the Mariposa Battalion burned Ahwahnechee villages and took their food stores.^[3] In 1852, a Mariposa expedition of US Federal troops heard a report that Ahwahnechee Indians killed two European-American miners at Bridalveil Meadows. The troops executed five Ahwahnechee men.^[4]

Chief Tenaya (d. 1853) was a leader in Yosemite Valley. His father was Ahwahnechee.^[5] He led his band away from Yosemite to settle with Paiutes in eastern California.^[6] Tenaya has descendants living today.

The official canon says that the Ahwahnechee of Yosemite "became extinct" as a people in the 19th century; however, the US Federal government has evicted Yosemite Native people from the park in 1851, 1906, 1929, and 1969.^[7]

Jay Johnson, an Ahwahnechee leader in the Mariposa Indian Council, hopes to get federal reocognition for Yosemite Indians.^[7]

Plant use [link]

The Ahwahnechee performed controlled burns in the Yosemite Valley that controlled undergrowth and maintained the oak population. Acorns were a central staple to their diet. Black oak acorns provided almost 60% of their diet.^[8]

National Park Service naturalist, Will Neely created a list of the plants commonly used by the Ahwahnechee. Black oak, sugar pine, western juniper, canyon live oak, interior live oak, foothill pine, buckeye, pinyon pine nuts provided acorns and seeds for food. Other plants provided smaller seeds. Mariposa tulip, Golden Brodiaea, common camas, squaw root, and Bolander's yampah provided edible bulbs and roots. Greens eaten by the Ahwahnechee included broad-leaved lupine, common monkey flower, nude buckwheat, California thistle, miner's lettuce, sorrel, clover, umbrella plant^{[disambiguation needed ]}, crimson columbine, and alum root. Strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, thimbleberry, wild grape, gooseberry, currant, blue elderberry, western choke cherry, Sierra plum, and greenleaf manzanita provided berries and fruits.^[8]

The Ahwahnechee brewed drinks from whiteleaf manzanita and western juniper. Commonly used medicine plants included Yerba santa, yarrow, giant hyssop, Brewer's angelica, sagebrush, showy milkweed, mountain dogbane, balsamroot, California barberry, fleabane, mint, knotweed, wild rose, meadow goldenrod, mule ears, pearly everlasting, and the California laurel.^[8]

The tribe used Soap plant and meadow rue to make soap. They used fibers from Mountain dogbane, showy milkweed, wild grape, and soap plant for cordage.^[8]

Baskets were woven from splints of American dogwood, big-leaf maple, buckbrush, deer brush, willow, and California hazelnut^[8] Additional bracken fern would add black colors to the basket and Redbud would provide red.

The tribe made bows from Incense-cedar, and Pacific dogwood. They built homes from Incense-cedar.^[8]

Ahwahnechee place names [link]

Some Ahwahnechee tribal names for areas around Yosemite Valley include the following:

Namesakes [link]

The Ahwahnee Hotel and Ahwahneechee Village, a recreated of a 19th tribal village, in Yosemite Valley are both named for the tribe, as are the Ahwahnee Heritage Days. Ahwahnee, California and Ahwahnee Estates, California are also named after the tribe.

Notes [link]

References [link]

• Mazel, David. American Literary Environmentalism. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-8203-2180-6.

v t e Yosemite National Park Founded in 1890 • Based in Tuolumne, Madera, and Mariposa Counties in California Yosemite National Park Attractions Yosemite Valley • Yosemite Village (CDP) • Hetch Hetchy (valley, dam) • Glacier Point • Badger Pass • Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias • Tuolumne Meadows • Tioga Pass • Wawona (community, hotel, tree) • Chilnualna Falls Valley attractions Half Dome • Yosemite Falls • El Capitan • Bridalveil Fall • Happy Isles • Mirror Lake • North Dome • Vernal Fall • Nevada Fall • Little Yosemite Valley • LeConte Lodge • Camp Curry • The Ahwahnee • Bracebridge Dinner • Yosemite Firefall (defunct attraction) Hiking trails Yosemite Falls • Bridalveil Falls • Half Dome • Mist Trail • Panorama Trail (Glacier Point) • Mirror Lake • McGurk Meadow • Ostrander Lake • Mono Meadow • Taft Point • Sentinel Dome • Chilnualna Falls • Alder Creek • Mariposa Grove • Wapama Falls • Rancheria Falls • Soda Springs • Dog Lake • Lembert Dome • Elizabeth Lake • Cathedral Lakes • Mono Pass • Gaylor Lakes • Vogelsang • John Muir Trail People John Muir • Stephen T. Mather • Galen Clark • David Curry • Shelton Johnson • Buffalo Soldiers • Chief Tenaya • Ahwahnechee people Lodging Yosemite Lodge at the Falls • The Ahwahnee • Camp Curry • Wawona Hotel • White Wolf Lodge • Housekeeping Camp • High Sierra Camps Dining The Ahwahnee Dining Room • Mountain Broiler Room • Lodge Cafeteria • Wawona Hotel Dining Room • Curry Village Pizza Parlor Natural Disasters Flood (1997, Merced River) • Rockfalls (1996, 2008, 2009) Transportation Nearby airports: FAT, MPI, MMH • YARTS • Route 140 • Route 41 • Route 120 • Hetch Hetchy Road • Glacier Point Road Nearby Municipalities Foresta • El Portal & Arch Rock Entrance • Yosemite West & Chinquapin • Bootjack • Mariposa • Briceburg • Oakhurst • Midpines • Lee Vining • Mammoth • Merced • Le Grand • Chowchilla Additional Information History of the Yosemite area • Geology of the Yosemite area • National Register of Historic Places in Yosemite National Park • Waterfalls(list, template) Category • Official website • The Ahwahnee • Yosemite Lodge • California Portal