Misplaced Pages

Tenaya (died 1853) was a leader of the Ahwahnechee people in Yosemite Valley, California.

Background

Tenaya's father was a leader of the Ahwahnechee people (or Awahnichi). The Ahwahneechee had become a tribe distinct from the other tribes in the area. Lafayette Bunnell, the doctor of the Mariposa Battalion, wrote that "Ten-ie-ya was recognized, by the Mono tribe, 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 colony in Ah-wah-ne."

The Ahwahneechee occupied Yosemite Valley until a sickness destroyed most of them. The few Ahwahneechee left Yosemite Valley and joined the Mono Lake Paiutes in the eastern Sierra Nevada. 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 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 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 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

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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 prospectors 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 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 was named after Tenaya. Tenaya Middle Schools in Fresno, California and Merced, California are named after him. An elementary school in Groveland, California is also named after Chief Tenaya.

See also

• History of the Yosemite area

References

1. ^ "Discovery of Yosemite, Chapter XVIII". Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
2. "Discovery of the Yosemite, Chapter V, by Lafayette H. Bunnell". www.yosemite.ca.us. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
3. "Discovery of the Yosemite, Chapter VI, by Lafayette H. Bunnell". www.yosemite.ca.us. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
4. "Origin of the word Yosemite". Retrieved 2008-05-08.
5. Grover, Stephen F.; Conway, John; Russell, Carl P. (1926). "Early Years in Yosemite". California Historical Society Quarterly. 5 (4): 328–341. doi:10.2307/25177844. ISSN 0008-1175. JSTOR 25177844.
6. Sullivan, Ron (December 7, 2002). "Roots of native names". SFGate. Retrieved 27 March 2018.

External links

• The Yosemite Indians
• Discovery of the Yosemite by Lafayette Bunnell
• 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

v t e Yosemite National Park
Attractions	Yosemite Valley Yosemite Village Hetch Hetchy Glacier Point Badger Pass Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias Tuolumne Meadows Tioga Pass Wawona Tree Chilnualna Falls Valley attractions Half Dome Yosemite Falls El Capitan Films: El Capitan, The Dawn Wall, Free Solo, To the Limit Bridalveil Fall Happy Isles Mirror Lake North Dome Vernal Fall Nevada Fall Little Yosemite Valley LeConte Lodge Bracebridge Dinner Yosemite Firefall Yosemite Valley Chapel Hiking trails John Muir Trail Mist Trail Panorama Trail McGurk Meadow Ostrander Lake Taft Point Sentinel Dome Alder Creek Mariposa Grove Wapama Falls Lembert Dome Rock climbs Fairview Dome, North Face Half Dome, Northwest Face Lost Arrow Spire Lost Arrow Spire Tip Midnight Lightning Royal Arches Route Salathé Wall (El Capitan) Steck-Salathé Route (Sentinel Rock) Separate Reality The Nose (El Capitan)
People	John Muir Stephen T. Mather Galen Clark Shelton Johnson Buffalo Soldiers Chief Tenaya Ahwahnechee people
Lodging and camping	Yosemite Lodge at the Falls The Ahwahnee Camp Curry Wawona Hotel Housekeeping Camp High Sierra Camps Camp 4
Natural disasters	1938 Yosemite TWA crash 1996 Yosemite Valley landslide 1997 Merced River flood 2013 Rim Wildfire 2022 Washburn Wildfire
Transportation	Nearby airports FAT RMY MMH YARTS Route 140 Route 41 Route 120
Nearby municipalities	Foresta El Portal & Arch Rock Entrance Yosemite West & Chinquapin Wawona Bootjack Mariposa Briceburg Oakhurst Midpines Lee Vining
Additional information	History of the Yosemite area Geology of the Yosemite area National Register of Historic Places in Yosemite National Park List of waterfalls Yosemite Category California Portal

• Native American leaders
• History of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
• Yosemite National Park
• Mono people
• Paiute people
• 1853 deaths
• Deaths by stoning