Re: Yosemite Ahwahnichi were outlaw Paiute Natives.

Old article appeared in a historical periodical called the Pony Express, which was published at one time in the town of Sonora, in Tuolumne County. The article says that the original Native people of Yosemite were war like Paiutes and not the docile Miwoks as has been falsely written.

Yosemite Ahwahnichis were Outlaw Paiutes

Here is the original transcribed article;


YOSEMTIE INDIANS ARE
OUTLAW PIUTES

Camp Barbour in 1851 produced
the great frontiersman, Major
James D. Savage, leader of the
Mariposa Battalion, who with
Andrew D. Firebaugh, chased out-
law Piute Indians back into Yose-
mite Valley, which led to its dis-
covery. It is obvious they were
not Miwoks and Diggers. They
were peaceful, certainly not war-
like enough to go out raiding Fort
Barbour (later Fort Miller) built
with soldiers armed with cap and ball
muskets. Also, this is refuted by
the testimony of veteran David
Williamson to the Pony Express
the late Williamson (born at Fort
Churchill in the 1860s) whose
father was an army officer, was
told differently by Johnny Calico,
son of Chief Winnemucca. Johnny
as a kid in 1860, witnessed White
Man's route up the Truckee River
from Lake Pyramid, in the so-
called battle of Lake Pyramid
which was not a "battle" but a
very fast route, so fast as the
soldiers could get away on horse-
back. His father told him that
all unruly renegades in the tribe
(The Piutes had no jails) had
been exiled for generations over
the mountains west of the big
lake (which was Mono Lake).
So there are your tough out-law
Yosemite Indians that Savage and
Firebaugh chased with their Mari-
posa Battalion in 1851.

*They were renegade Paiutes. The common people of the Mono Paiutes bragged about their exploits. They were like Robin Hood in their eyes. Chief Tenaya's band was made up of Paiutes from different bands. They were a warrior renegade band and not docile Miwoks.

*There is a town called Firebaugh that now exists in the area.

Does it matter?

Yes eek, it does matter and here is how.

Paiutes and Miwoks are two different groups, with different language and culture. Let say Germans and French.

The group now calling themselves the Southern Sierra Miwuks, is a non-profit trying to become a tribe, but is using our Paiute history to become a federally recognized tribe. Recently we found out that the Southern Sierra Miwuks are going for a gaming compact once they get federally recognized, which is coming up soon. We have seen the documentation. The chairman of the Southern Sierra Miwok aka the American Indian Council of Mariposa, works for the Park. Besides some working in the Park, the Park PAYS the Southern Sierra Miwuk non-profit group hundreds of thousands of dollars thinking they are the original Indians of Yosemite, but were in fact the scouts for the Mariposa Battalion. They are CLAIMING to be the original Indians of Yosemite, but they were in fact the ones who helped hunt, track down and capture Chief Tenaya and his band.

Plus the Park has taken our Paiute ancestors and used them, claiming they are Miwoks, to advance a false history. Yet the majority of our family is not in any Miwok tribe, but are Paiutes and some Washoes.

Also the history of California is very important because millions of people enter Yosemite every year and the Park is giving out the wrong information. Imagine if you knew your people were the ones who fought the Germans during WW II, but Germans were now saying that they were the ones who fought the Nazis, and you knew that was false, would you say something or would it matter?

What we are doing is showing that Paiutes were in fact the original Yosemite Indians, with proof.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2009 09:04PM by Yosemite_Indian.

Quote
Yosemite_Indian
The group now calling themselves the Southern Sierra Miwuks, is a non-profit trying to become a tribe, but is using our Paiute history to become a federally recognized tribe. Recently we found out that the Southern Sierra Miwuks are going for a gaming compact once they get federally recognized, which is coming up soon. We have seen the documentation.

Oh, goodie.
A further enrichment of the Eastside by building something similar to Bishop's "Paiute Palace" casino.
[Soon it will have all of the charm and culture of Vince's neighborhood.]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2009 08:04AM by szalkowski.

While the Southern Sierra Miwuks are going for a casino right as soon as they become recognized, we Yosemite Paiutes are not going for a casino. The Southern Sierra Miwuks are coming up for federal recognition using our people and the wrong history of Yosemite.

We also have a higher blood degree (meaning we are not 'blonde Indians'). Many of the Southern Sierra Miwuks have low, low Indian blood degree. Meaning they are mostly white with a little Indian blood.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2009 10:21PM by Yosemite_Indian.

Quote
eeek
Does it matter?

It $$$$matters$$$ a whole lot. This scenario is playing out in obscure areas that won't get any press, but matters just the same. Around here, you suddenly get white skinned blonde haired "indians" trying to document their 1/16th "indian" blood so that they can get their piece of the $$$pie$$. There is a lot at stake, especially if you have lived/stayed on the Rez and seen how some of the REAL other half lives. The greed level involved here is disgusting.

Quote
Bee

Quote
eeek
Does it matter?

It $$$$matters$$$ a whole lot. This scenario is playing out in obscure areas that won't get any press, but matters just the same. Around here, you suddenly get white skinned blonde haired "indians" trying to document their 1/16th "indian" blood so that they can get their piece of the $$$pie$$. There is a lot at stake, especially if you have lived/stayed on the Rez and seen how some of the REAL other half lives. The greed level involved here is disgusting.

Just wondering, but does federal recognition really come from any kind of establishment of a history in an iconic place such as Yosemite? I would think that it shouldn't be critical as long as they can demonstrate that they were a distinct group.

Yes, They have to show they were a cohesive community from first contact. They changed that to 1900. The one major problem is in 1900 there were mainly Paiutes in the Park. Later on others came in. They did not get along as they claim but there was infighting between the two major groups of in the group, the Yokuts and the Paiutes. There are very few "Miwoks" in the group and they weren't from Yosemite, but from Savage's workers. We can trace them to tribes outside of Yosemite.

Neither Miwuks nor Paiutes get any of my money unless they run a gas station with snacks, or an ammo shop.

lol...if you are a taxpayer, you do give money to the Southern Miwoks. They get PAID for services by Yosemite, yet many of the leadership work or worked for the Park. The Chairman actually works for Yosemite NPS and gets paid for Miwok "services". Other tribal groups in the area, including the Paiutes, who were the original Indians of Yosemite, get squat, zip, nada. zilch.

So some get a check by working for the Park and also a check for "services".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2009 01:03AM by Yosemite_Indian.

By definition, doesn't "services" usually involve some sort of work?

They get over $127,000 yearly in task service agreements. Which can be anything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2009 11:36PM by Yosemite_Indian.