Ishi: Last of His Tribe | Themes

Ishi: Last of His Tribe Themes

Survival

Survival in this story is present at its most basic level: the tribe must remain hidden in order to continue to live. In addition, the survival of a way of life and of the last individuals who practice that way of life depends on protecting the village from discovery by the saldu.

The survival of the village is accomplished by physically moving the clan each time a threat from the white man is perceived. The Yahi are well suited to adapting to new situations and have done so each time the saldu have raided their villages.

The Yahi can sustain themselves on the deer they hunt, beaver they trap and salmon they fish. They seem to have the ability to make any place home, even an abandoned bear den. For each member of the tiny village, survival is a deeply personal quest; when one of them dies, a large chunk...
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