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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Timawi respond to Elder Uncle's suggestion that he teach Ishi about what he had done wrong?
(a) Timawi is ashamed and refuses "to teach or to boast."
(b) Timawi takes the request seriously and promises to be a good teacher.
(c) Timawi is refuses to help with the search or to teach Ishi.
(d) Timawi is flattered by Elder Uncle's request and agrees.

2. According to Grandmother, when did she first meet Ishi's mother?
(a) When Mother was Tushi's age.
(b) After Ishi was born.
(c) When Mother was first born.
(d) When Ishi's father brought her home as his wife.

3. What prediction does Mother make about the New Year?
(a) She says that all of the saldu will have left by the New Year.
(b) She says that she will walk into the New Year on her own feet.
(c) She says that it will be the most prosperous New Year they have ever seen.
(d) She says that she will not make it to see the New Year.

4. According to Elder Uncle's story, why did Ishi's father kill the saldu who had come to their village?
(a) The saldu had threatened Ishi's mother.
(b) The saldu had killed and scalped a man from a neighboring village.
(c) The saldu had stolen food from the village.
(d) The saldu had shot a hole through the men's house.

5. Why does Ishi not like the Green Cave?
(a) Grandfather has told him that evil spirits live in the cave.
(b) The bones of many Yahi are buried in the cave.
(c) It is dark and full of unknown creatures.
(d) Ishi was once attacked by a bear at Green Cave.

6. What is difficult about the shot that Ishi had taken at the saldu on horseback?
(a) He was shooting uphill at a moving target.
(b) He was able to shoot him from behind without being seen.
(c) He was shooting from behind a dense thicket of brush.
(d) He was able to shoot the saldu without harming Tushi.

7. How do Ishi and Timawi know that they are near a herd of deer?
(a) They can hear the deer calls.
(b) They see the deer tracks.
(c) They can smell the deer.
(d) They can see the deer through the trees.

8. According to the Yahi creation story, how did creation begin?
(a) The Great gods cracked open an egg, and the parts settled to become different parts of the earth.
(b) The earth fell from the heavens, fully formed.
(c) The Great gods simply called the earth forth to assemble it into landforms and waterways.
(d) The Great gods dragged the uncreated world up from the bottom of the Outer Ocean.

9. What do Elder Uncle, Timawi, and Ishi find when they return to the beaver dam?
(a) Empty boxes and equipment, but no horse or rider.
(b) The injured horse and a dead rider.
(c) The dead horse and rider.
(d) The dead horse, but no rider.

10. How are the mountain fish that Timawi and Ishi catch different from the fish in the canyon?
(a) The mountain fish move more slowly and are easier to catch.
(b) The mountain fish are poisonous.
(c) The mountain fish are larger than and not as flavorful as the canyon fish.
(d) The mountain fish are smaller and richer than the canyon fish.

11. How does Ishi think his mother feels when he sees that she is wearing her sweetgrass bracelet?
(a) Ishi thinks his mother feels sad.
(b) Ishi thinks his mother is happy.
(c) Ishi thinks that his mother feels lonely.
(d) Ishi thinks his mother is angry.

12. By the time that Ishi and Tushi see the saldu at the marsh, how long have the Yahi been in hiding?
(a) Nine moon cycles (nine months).
(b) Fourteen years.
(c) Seven turnings of the moon (or seven years).
(d) Six turnings of the moon (six months).

13. According to the Yahi creation story, from what were the first humans created?
(a) From stones tossed over the shoulder of a god.
(b) From buckeye sticks and smoke blown from a stone pipe.
(c) From the clay of the earth.
(d) From the parts of an egg.

14. Why does Ishi retrieve his arrow from the tree into which he had misfired?
(a) He wants to keep it as a memento of his first deer.
(b) It takes a lot of work to make an arrow, and the arrowhead is treasured.
(c) He is embarrassed that someone will see it and know that his first shot missed.
(d) He does not want any saldu to see it and suspect that there are Yahi nearby.

15. What is Ishi's reward for constructing a superb bow?
(a) He gets a new quiver of arrows.
(b) He gets to shoot the first deer of the New Year.
(c) He is served the first bowl of salmon at dinner.
(d) He gets to stay in the men's house.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do the Yahi no longer spend the summer on the mountain?

2. How much time has passed since the Yahi have moved to Wowunupo?

3. From what kind of tree does Ishi cut the branch for his bow?

4. What disturbing news does Ishi decide to keep from Timawi regarding Timawi's old village?

5. What purpose is served by the pinecones that come from the gray pine?

(see the answer keys)

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