Tenaya
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Tenaya (died 1853) was a leader of the
Ahwahnechee people The Ahwahnechee, Awani, or Awalache were an Indigenous people of California who historically lived in the Yosemite Valley. They were a band of Mono and Miwok People. The Awani people's heritage can be found all over Yosemite National Park. ...
in
Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...
,
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 ...
.


Background

Tenaya's father was a leader of the
Ahwahnechee people The Ahwahnechee, Awani, or Awalache were an Indigenous people of California who historically lived in the Yosemite Valley. They were a band of Mono and Miwok People. The Awani people's heritage can be found all over Yosemite National Park. ...
(or Awahnichi). The Ahwahneechee had become a tribe distinct from the other tribes in the area.
Lafayette Bunnell Lafayette Houghton Bunnell (March 13, 1824 – July 21, 1903) was an American physician, author, and explorer. He is most well known for his involvement with the Mariposa Battalion, the first non-Indians to enter Yosemite National Park, Yosemite ...
, the doctor of the Mariposa Battalion, wrote that "Ten-ie-ya was recognized, by the
Mono tribe The Mono ( ) are a Native American people who traditionally live in the central Sierra Nevada, the Eastern Sierra (generally south of Bridgeport), the Mono Basin, and adjacent areas of the Great Basin. They are often grouped under the hist ...
, as one of their number, as he was born and lived among them until his ambition made him a leader and founder of the
Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...
colony in Ah-wah-ne." The Ahwahneechee occupied Yosemite Valley until a sickness destroyed most of them. The few Ahwahneechee left
Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...
Valley and joined the Mono Lake Paiutes in the eastern
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
. Tenaya's father married a Mono Paiute woman and Tenaya was born from that union. Tenaya grew up amongst his mother's people.


Leadership

An Ahwahneechee
medicine man A medicine man (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwinini'') or medicine woman (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name i ...
and friend of his father persuaded a young Tenaya to return. Tenaya took the few remnants of the Ah-wah-nee-chees that had been living with the Monos and Paiutes and reestablished themselves in Yosemite Valley with him as their leader. Tenaya had four wives. The Ahwahneechee were feared by the surrounding
Miwok The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native Americans in the United States, Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok lan ...
tribes, who called them ''yohhe'meti'', meaning "they are killers" By 1851, conflicts between the non-indigenous miners and the Native Americans in the Sierra started to increase. The state 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 ...
decided to send the Natives to reservations. The Mariposa Battalion was formed to carry out the relocation, marching Tenaya and his people to the Fresno Reservation. Many of Tenaya's band left Yosemite Valley instead of following Tenaya. As they approached the Fresno reservation, they fled back to the Yosemite Valley. The Brigade then re-entered the Valley, captured Tenaya's sons, and killed his youngest son. Tenaya then agreed to go back to the reservation.


Death

By the summer of 1851, Tenaya grew tired of the reservation. He gave his pledge that he would not disturb any non-indigenous people. However, in 1852, a group of
prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...
s were killed in the Valley. Tenaya and his band fled to join the Mono Paiutes. He returned to the Valley in 1853. He was
stoned to death Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...
in a dispute with the Mono Paiutes over stolen horses. The remaining survivors who were not killed were taken back to Mono Lake and absorbed into the Mono Lake Paiute population. Another version of the story says that in the spring of 1852, a party of eight prospectors entered the Valley. One of the prospectors had lured his comrades there to kill them and take possession of a mine they held in partnership. He had incited the Yosemites to kill the intruders, arranging his escape and letting the blame fall on them. Late in the summer of 1853, Tenaya and some of the men of his band were playing a hand bone game with some Mono Indians. The gambling became tense and a fight broke out which ended with Tenaya being struck in the head with a rock crushing his skull along with several others of his band killed as well. As was their custom, they were cremated and wailing was heard for two weeks. After the death of their leader, the few remaining members dispersed between Mono Lake and to the near west.


Legacy

Tenaya Lake Tenaya Lake is an alpine lake in Yosemite National Park, located between Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows. The surface of Tenaya Lake has an elevation of . The lake basin was formed by glacial action, which left a backdrop of light granite roc ...
was named after Tenaya. Tenaya Middle Schools in
Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
and
Merced, California Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on Apri ...
are named after him. An elementary school in
Groveland, California Groveland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tuolumne County, California. The 2020 United States census reported Groveland's population was 540. Groveland was created as a CDP prior to the 2010 census; previously it was part of Groveland-Big ...
is also named after Chief Tenaya.


See also

*
History of the Yosemite area Human habitation in the Sierra Nevada region of California reaches back 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. Historically attested Native American populations, such as the Sierra Miwok, Mono and Paiute, belong to the Uto-Aztecan and Utian phyla. In th ...


References


External links


The Yosemite Indians

''Discovery of the Yosemite''
by
Lafayette Bunnell Lafayette Houghton Bunnell (March 13, 1824 – July 21, 1903) was an American physician, author, and explorer. He is most well known for his involvement with the Mariposa Battalion, the first non-Indians to enter Yosemite National Park, Yosemite ...

''The Last Survivor''
by H. J. Taylor contains an account of the last survivor of Tenaya's original tribe.
1910 Miwok tribal area map
Map of Miwok territory by noted California Anthropologist C. Hart Merriam.
Historic Yosemite Indian chiefs - with photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenaya Native American leaders History of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Yosemite National Park Mono people Paiute people 1853 deaths Year of birth unknown Deaths by stoning