Juana Maria
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Juana Maria (died October 19, 1853), better known to history as the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island (her Native American name is unknown), was a Native Californian woman who was the last surviving member of her tribe, the Nicoleño. She lived alone on
San Nicolas Island San Nicolas Island (Spanish: ''Isla de San Nicolás''; Tongva: ''Haraasnga'') is the most remote of the Channel Islands, off Southern California, from the nearest point on the mainland coast. It is part of Ventura County. The island is current ...
off the coast of
Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
from 1835 until her removal from the island in 1853.
Scott O'Dell Scott O'Dell (May 23, 1898 – October 15, 1989) was an American people, American writer of 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books. He wrote historical fiction, primarily, including several chi ...
's award-winning children's novel '' Island of the Blue Dolphins'' (1960) was inspired by her story. She was the last native speaker of the
Nicoleño language The Nicoleño language is an extinct language formerly spoken on San Nicolas Island by the Nicoleño. It went extinct with Juana Maria's death in 1853. Its extant remnants consist only of four words and two songs attributed to her. This eviden ...
.


Background

The
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
have long been inhabited by humans, with Indigenous civilization first occurring 10,000 years ago or earlier. At the time of European contact, two distinct ethnic groups lived on the archipelago: the
Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, Indigenous languages of California See also

* Pentateuch (dis ...
lived on the Northern Channel Islands and the
Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...
on the Southern Islands. Juana Maria's tribe, the Nicoleño, were believed to be closely related to the Tongva. In the early 1540s, Spanish (or Portuguese, according to some accounts) conquistador
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (; 1497 – January 3, 1543) was a Portuguese maritime explorer best known for investigations of the west coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the first European to explore presen ...
explored the California coast, claiming it on behalf of Spain.


Arrival of the fur trappers (Aleuts)

In 1814, the brig '' Il’mena'' brought a party of
Native Alaskan Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...
otter hunters working for the
Russian-American Company The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty was a state-sponsored chartered company formed largely on the basis of the Shelikhov-Golikov Company, United American Company. Emperor Paul I of Russia chartered the c ...
(RAC), who massacred most of the islanders after accusing them of killing a Native Alaskan hunter. Although there was speculation that the Franciscan padres of the
California missions The Spanish missions in California () formed a series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. The missions were established by Catholic priests of the Franciscan ord ...
requested that the remaining Nicoleños be removed from the island, there is no documentary evidence to back that claim. The missions were undergoing secularization in the 1830s and there was no Franciscan priest at
Mission San Gabriel Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality *Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * O ...
from mid-1835 through spring of 1836 to receive any Nicoleños brought to the mainland. In late November 1835, the
schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
''Peor es Nada'' ("Nothing is Worse"), commanded by Charles Hubbard, left southern California to remove the remaining people living on San Nicolas. Upon arriving at the island, Hubbard's party, which included Isaac Sparks, gathered the islanders on the beach and brought them aboard. Juana Maria, however, was not among them. A strong storm arose, and the crew of ''Peor es Nada'', realizing the imminent danger of being wrecked by the surf and rocks, panicked and sailed toward the mainland, leaving her behind. A more romantic version tells of Juana Maria diving overboard after realizing her younger brother had been left behind, although archaeologist Steven J. Schwartz notes, "The story of her jumping overboard does not show up until the 1880s ... By then the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
is well underway, and literature takes on a flowery, even romantic flavor." This version is recorded by Juana Maria's eventual rescuer, George Nidever, who heard it from a hunter who had been on the ''Peor es Nada''; however, makes it clear he may be misremembering what he heard.Nidever, G.; Ellison, W. H., eds. (1984). ''The life and adventures of George Nidever, 1802–1883''. Santa Barbara, CA: Mcnally & Loftin. .


Discovery

According to Emma Hardacre, there are differing accounts as to the discovery of the Lone Woman. The first is that Father José González Rubio of the Santa Barbara Mission offered a man named Carl Dittman $100 to find her. The second, and what appears to be the original account, from George Nidever states that Father José González Rubio paid one Thomas Jeffries $200 to find Juana Maria, though he was unsuccessful. The tales Jeffries told upon returning managed to capture the imagination of George Nidever, a Santa Barbara fur trapper, who launched several expeditions of his own. His first two attempts failed to find her, but on his third attempt in the autumn of 1853, one of Nidever's men, Carl Dittman, discovered human footprints on the beach and pieces of seal blubber which had been left out to dry. Further investigation led to the discovery of Juana Maria, who was living on the island in a crude hut partially constructed of whale bones. She was dressed in a skirt made of greenish
cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...
feathers. It was believed that she also lived in a nearby cave. Afterwards, Juana Maria was taken to the Santa Barbara Mission, but was only able to communicate with the three or four remaining members of her tribe. The local
Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, Indigenous languages of California See also

* Pentateuch (dis ...
Indians could not understand her, so the mission sent for a group of
Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...
who had formerly lived on Santa Catalina Island, but they were unsuccessful as well. Four words and two songs recorded from Juana Maria suggest she spoke one of the
Uto-Aztecan languages The Uto-Aztecan languages are a family of native American languages, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The name of the language family reflects the common ...
native to Southern California, but it is not clear to which branch it is related. The only word saved from her vocabulary, according to a letter written by Lennox Tierney from Altadena, California, was "manequana" of which there is no translation. A
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
study by linguist
Pamela Munro Pamela Munro (born May 23, 1947) is an American linguist who specializes in Native American languages. She is a distinguished research professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she has held a position ...
focusing on the words and songs suggests that her language was most similar to those of the
Luiseño The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...
s of Northern
San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...
and of the
Juaneño The Acjachemen () are an Indigenous people of California. Published maps often identify their ancestral lands as extending from the beach to the mountains, south from what is now known as Aliso Creek in Orange County to Las Pulgas Canyon in t ...
s near
San Juan Capistrano San Juan Capistrano (also known colloquially as San Juan or SJC) is a city in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 35,253 at the 2020 Census. Named for Saint John of Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano was founded ...
. Both groups traded with the San Nicolas islanders and their languages may have had some influence. This evidence, when taken as a whole, suggests that Juana Maria was a native Nicoleño.


Life at Santa Barbara Mission

Juana Maria was reportedly fascinated and ecstatic upon arrival, marveling at the sight of horses, along with European clothing and food. She was allowed to stay with Nidever, who described her as a woman of "medium height, but rather thick ... She was probably about 50 years old, but she was still strong and active. Her face was pleasing as she was continually smiling. Her teeth were entire but worn to the gums." Juana Maria apparently enjoyed visits by curious Santa Barbara residents, singing and dancing for her audiences. One of the songs Juana Maria sang is popularly called the "Toki Toki" song. Knowledge of this song came from a Ventureño man named Malquiares, an otter hunter who had joined Nidever's expedition to the island and who had heard Juana Maria sing it. Malquiares later recited the words to his friend Fernando Kitsepawit Librado (1839–1915). The song's words are as follows: Librado recited the words to a Cruzeño indian named Aravio Talawiyashwit, who translated them as "I live contented because I can see the day when I want to get out of this island"; however, given the lack of any other information on Juana Maria's language, this translation's accuracy is dubious, and was perhaps an intuitive guess. Anthropologist and linguist
John Peabody Harrington John Peabody Harrington (April 29, 1884 – October 21, 1961) was an American linguist and ethnologist and a specialist in the indigenous peoples of California. Harrington is noted for the massive volume of his documentary output, most of whic ...
recorded Librado singing the song on a wax cylinder in 1913. The following text was published by an anonymous writer in
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
's ''Daily Democratic State Journal'' on October 13, 1853:
The wild woman who was found on the island of San Nicolas about 70 miles from the coast, west of Santa Barbara, is now at the latter place and is looked upon as a curiosity. It is stated she has been some 18 to 20 years alone on the island. She existed on shell fish and the fat of the seal, and dressed in the skins and feathers of wild ducks, which she sewed together with sinews of the seal. She cannot speak any known language, is good-looking and about middle age. She seems to be contented in her new home among the good people of Santa Barbara.


Death

Just seven weeks after arriving on the mainland, Juana Maria died of
dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...
in Garey, California. Nidever claimed her fondness for green corn, vegetables, and fresh fruit after years of little nutrient-laden food caused the severe and ultimately fatal illness. Before she died, Father Sanchez baptized and christened her with the Spanish name Juana Maria. She was buried in an unmarked grave on the Nidever family plot at the Santa Barbara Mission cemetery. Father González Rubio made the following entry in the Mission's Book of Burials: "On October 19, 1853 I gave ecclesiastical burial in the cemetery to the remains of Juana Maria, the Indian woman brought from San Nicolas Island and, since there was no one who could understand her language, she was baptized conditionally by Fr. Sanchez." In 1928, a plaque commemorating her was placed at the site by the
Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...
. Juana Maria's water basket, clothing and various artifacts, including bone needles which had been brought back from the island, were part of the collections of the
California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, that is among the largest List of natural history museums, museums of natural history in the world, housing over ...
, but were destroyed in the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...
and fire. Her cormorant feather dress was apparently sent to the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
, but it appears to have been lost, as noted in the ''Island of the Blue Dolphins''.


Archaeological finds

In 1939, archaeologists discovered Juana Maria's whale-bone hut on the northernmost end of San Nicolas, the highest point of the island. The location of the hut exactly matched the descriptions left by Nidever. In 2009, University of Oregon archaeologist
Jon Erlandson Jon M. Erlandson is an archaeologist, professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oregon, and the former director of the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Erlandson’s research interests inc ...
found two Nicoleño-style redwood boxes eroding from a sea cliff, covered by a whale rib and associated with several asphaltum-coated woven water bottles, and threatened with destruction from winter storms. The site is located on the northwest coast of San Nicolas, where Juana Maria is believed to have spent much of her time. The boxes, salvaged by Erlandson, René Vellanoweth, Lisa Thomas-Barnett, and Troy Davis, contained more than 200 artifacts, including bird-bone pendants,
abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...
shell dishes and fish hooks,
soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium-rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in sub ...
ornaments, sandstone abraders,
red ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the col ...
, a Nicoleño harpoon tip, glass projectile points and metal artifacts, and several Native Alaskan toggling harpoon tips. In 2012, Navy archaeologist Steven Schwartz, working with Vellanoweth and his students from California State University, Los Angeles, found and uncovered the buried remnants of the long-lost Indian Cave, where Juana Maria may also have lived. Archaeological research at the cave has been halted at the request of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, which claims cultural affiliation with the island's ancient residents.


Legacy

Scott O'Dell Scott O'Dell (May 23, 1898 – October 15, 1989) was an American people, American writer of 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books. He wrote historical fiction, primarily, including several chi ...
's '' Island of the Blue Dolphins'' was largely based on Juana Maria's story. The novel's protagonist, Karana, endures many of the trials that Juana Maria may have faced while alone on San Nicolas. In the 1964 film version of the novel, American actress
Celia Kaye Celia Kaye (born February 24, 1942) is an American actress. She starred in the 1964 film adaptation of '' Island of the Blue Dolphins'' which won her a Golden Globe award. Early life Kaye is of German and Cherokee descent and was born in Cart ...
played Karana.


See also

*
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and
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, the last members of the
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people of
Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...
*
Ishi Ishi ( – March 25, 1916) was the last known member of the Native American Yahi people from the present-day state of California in the United States. The rest of the Yahi (as well as many members of their parent tribe, the Yana) were ki ...
, the last known member of the Yahi people of
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
*
Squanto Tisquantum (; 1585 (±10 years?) – November 30, 1622 Old Style, O.S.), more commonly known as Squanto (), was a member of the Patuxet tribe of Wampanoags, best known for being an early liaison between the Native American population in Southe ...
, the last member of the
Patuxet The Patuxet were a Native American band of the Wampanoag tribal confederation. They lived primarily in and around modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, and were among the first Native Americans encountered by European settlers in the region in the ...
people of
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
* The Man of the Hole, last member of an uncontacted
people of Brazil Brazilians (, ) are the citizens of Brazil. A Brazilian can also be a person born abroad to a Brazilian parent or legal guardian as well as a person who acquired Brazilian nationality law, Brazilian citizenship. Brazil is a multiethnic society, ...


Notes


References


External links

*
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island
— archived series of talks about Juana Maria, presented at the 8th California Islands Symposium on October 25, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Juana Maria Nicoleño 19th-century Native American people People from Ventura County, California Channel Islands of California 19th-century births 1853 deaths Deaths from dysentery Infectious disease deaths in California Last known speakers of a Native American language Castaways Year of birth unknown Ethnological show business 19th-century Native American women Last known members of an Indigenous people