View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Timawi insist that Tushi must go with him to his village?
(a) Timawi is jealous of Ishi and wants Tushi to get away from him.
(b) Timawi does not feel welcome in Tuliyani and wants to return home.
(c) Among his people, it is tradition for the woman to move to the man's village.
(d) Timawi does not believe that Tushi will truly be a wife unless she leaves her family.

2. 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 angry.
(c) Ishi thinks his mother is happy.
(d) Ishi thinks that his mother feels lonely.

3. 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 smaller and richer than the canyon fish.
(d) The mountain fish are larger than and not as flavorful as the canyon fish.

4. Why is Ishi alarmed by the ditch that the saldu are digging?
(a) The noise is driving away all of the game that he hunts.
(b) The saldu's excavation is polluting the river.
(c) The saldu are destroying valuable food resources.
(d) The ditch is headed right toward Wowunupo.

5. Why do Ishi and Timawi choose not to chop the branch off the tree?
(a) Yahi tradition dictates that the branch must be taken with only knives and rasps.
(b) They forgot to bring along their ax.
(c) They are not allowed to chop wood until they are older.
(d) The noise of chopping would attract the attention of the saldu.

6. 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 shot a hole through the men's house.
(c) The saldu had killed and scalped a man from a neighboring village.
(d) The saldu had stolen food from the village.

7. How soon does Elder Uncle suggest that they move to the cave?
(a) After the warm weather returns in the spring.
(b) Before the fall of the first snow.
(c) Before the end of the next Harvest Moons.
(d) After the frogs stop singing.

8. How long is Ishi away looking for a new location for the village?
(a) Three days and three nights.
(b) Four days and four nights.
(c) A full week.
(d) Five days and five nights.

9. How much time has passed since the Yahi have moved to Wowunupo?
(a) Over twenty years.
(b) Over twelve years.
(c) Almost five years.
(d) Twenty-five years.

10. Ishi learns to stay awake for how many nights?
(a) Five nights.
(b) Six nights.
(c) Seven nights.
(d) Three nights.

11. What advice does Elder Uncle give Ishi and Timawi regarding the saldu?
(a) Forgive them and offer them peace.
(b) Study them and learn their ways.
(c) Train faithfully and look for an opportunity to seek revenge.
(d) Do not think about the saldu; avoid them in thought and action.

12. Why is Ishi surprised by the saldu who see him while he is fishing?
(a) Ishi had been sleeping on the rocks.
(b) Ishi recognizes them.
(c) The saldu moved quietly and Ishi did not smell them.
(d) The saldu come up behind him out of the forest.

13. How many days pass between the time that Ishi and Timawi leave and Ishi's return to Tuliyani?
(a) Two weeks.
(b) Nine days and nine nights.
(c) Eight days and eight nights.
(d) Two full months.

14. Why does Ishi shoot the hat off the saldu who is climbing up the trail?
(a) He cannot see through the brush, so he is not able to aim.
(b) He does not want to kill anyone unless he is forced to.
(c) He sees the color of the hat and mistakes it for an animal.
(d) He is so nervous that he cannot take aim.

15. 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 Great gods simply called the earth forth to assemble it into landforms and waterways.
(c) The earth fell from the heavens, fully formed.
(d) The Great gods dragged the uncreated world up from the bottom of the Outer Ocean.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What does the saldu intend to do with Tushi?

3. What is the "tube-stick" that Tushi and Ishi see the saldu using?

4. Why does Ishi not tell Elder Uncle or Mother about his visits to Black Rock?

5. How does Ishi attempt to hide Mother from the saldu who enter the village?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 901 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample