Maria Lebrado in Yosemite National Park Service sign located in Cook's Meadow
Tenaya's story is not on any signs in the Park today. What Yosemite National Park has done is taken Tenaya's story out of Yosemite and has started with the story of Maria Lebrado Yrdte instead. Maria stated she is the grand daughter of Chief Tenaya and the Park says she is a Southern Sierra Miwuk...but was she? We did Maria's family tree using the documented proof.
So let's see if Maria Lebrado is a Miwok as the Park says she is;
When Dr. Bunnell met Chief Tenaya he documented that Tenaya was 1/2 Ahwahneechee and 1/2 Mono Lake Paiute.
Tenaya was married to a Mono Lake Paiute woman and was documented to have 3 sons.
Tenaya's sons would be 3/4's Mono Lake Paiute and 1/4 Ahwahneechee.
Bunnell wrote that James Savage could speak Miwok, but Savage could not speak to any of Tenaya's band when he captured them.
But Savage said that Tenaya's band spoke Mono Paiute.
This means that Tenaya's sons were probably married to Paiutes also.
So this means that Maria Lebrado's father was 3/4s Mono Paiute and 1/4 Ahwahneechee and married to a Paiute.
Meaning that Maria Lebrado was 7/8's Mono Lake Paiute and 1/8 Ahwahneechee.
Yet the Park uses Maria Lebrado to push the Miwok Yosemite myth;
So Maria Lebrado could not be a Southern Sierra Miwok...she had to be a Mono Lake Paiute.
Maria Lebrado is a Paiute NOT Miwok
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2009 06:42PM by Yosemite_Indian.
