The Language of the Yosemite Indians
by Yosemite Paiutes
Article from Indian Country Today

Yosemite National Park Native American Indian Indians Natives indigenous Paiutes Paiute Miwok Miwoks Mewuk Mono Lake Inyo Bishop Bridgeport Coleville California history historical Mariposa County language studies Hetch Hetchy Valley

Yosemite is well known for being one of the most wondrous places in the world with its beautiful vistas and gorgeous scenery. You will hear hundreds of different languages spoken daily when you visit Yosemite Valley as millions of tourists from all over the world wander the Park.

But many years before settlers entered Yosemite in 1851 what was the language spoken by the Native people of Yosemite Valley? What was the native language of Chief Tenaya and his original band of Yosemite Indians? Let's look at the first account by the doctor who had first contact and see.

In CHAPTER IV from "Discovery of the Yosemite, and the Indian War of 1851, which led to that event", by Dr. Lafayette Houghton Bunnell:

"Major Savage was our best authority. He could speak the dialects of most of the mountain tribes
in this part of California, but he confessed that he could not readily understand Ten-ie-ya, or the Indian guide, as they appeared to speak a Paiute jargon."

Hiking now, under a rock 2 years ago

Tom Stienstra

(07-25) 16:53 PDT -- With each step on the trail this weekend, Theresa Ho is making giant strides to overcome a nightmare trek at Yosemite National Park. She was crushed by a boulder and broke her back, several ribs and right fibula, punctured her right lung and sustained scrapes, tears and crush wounds.
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Tom Stienstra

"This is the first time I've camped in two years," Ho said before departing Thursday for the wilderness in Virginia Canyon in the high Sierra. "Being outside, sleeping outside, is an incredible experience that I'm so excited to be able to do it again."

Ho was hiking in Yosemite up LeConte Gully, a steep, rocky cut above the LeConte Memorial Building in Yosemite Valley. With her husband, Tom Lambert, they trekked off-trail and climbed some 900 feet in about 45 minutes.

"As I was trying to scramble up over a four-foot boulder above me, it came loose and started rolling toward me," Ho said. "I jumped backward and started sliding down the gully head first with the boulder rolling down after me. At one point, I kind of got my feet against the boulder to try and push it away. But it rolled right over the top of me. It got really dark. I remember thinking, 'Please, don't let the boulder stop now.' "

The waterfalls are starting to slow down but they are still visible and should be for several more weeks. The Merced river which runs through the heart of Yosemite Valley has dropped considerably and it looks like rafting may be ope till mid August.

Here are 2 photos of Yosemite Falls and as you can see it is starting to turn into a trickle.

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View looking east at Tuolumne Meadows from the top of Fairview Dome.

Prints & Downloads are available at:

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Yosemite, CA - Yosemite officials say four new hybrid (electric-diesel) tractors will reduce emissions used for the Yosemite Valley Floor Tours by 85 percent and allow for 800 percent better fuel economy than the previous vehicles.

The new tractors, purchased by DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite, at a cost of $150,000 each, pull trailers for a two hour tour hosted by a National Park Ranger.

Acting Yosemite Park Superintendent Dan Uberauga says, "We are very proud of these new vehicles and take great pride in leading by example. Going green is incredibly important to the park."

Around 60 were on hand for a Thursday ribbon cutting. Approximately 70,000 people take the Yosemite Valley Floor Tour each year.

Written by bjhansen@mlode.com.

We had some thunderstorms roll through Yosemite's high country yesterday with the main impact over the southern portion down by Mt Clark. Tuolumne Meadows had scattered rain and the rain pushed out west all the way to Tenaya Lake. Very heavy rain fell in the Tioga Pass and Lee Vinning grade area. Last night we had some scattered rain in Tuolumne and today dawned partly cloudy.

It looks like we might get more thunderstorms in Yosemite today but where they will hit is very hard to predict.

This photo is from last nights sunset over Tuolumne Meadows and is looking east at the crest of the sierra with Tuolumne Meadows down low and Mt Gibbs, Mt Dana and Tioga Pass on the crest.

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A unique art exhibit is opening on June 20, 2009 at the Yosemite Museum Gallery. The exhibit features work from seven professional artists, all part of the Artists-in-Residence program. The program, established over 20 years ago, is coordinated by Yosemite Renaissance. Professional artists are invited to live in Yosemite for one entire month which allows them to immerse themselves in the park, visiting the spectacular expanse that is Yosemite and capturing the hidden gems behind the traditional icons.

Art includes paintings, prints, drawings, fabric art and sculptures by John Barnett, Jane Culp, Tom Killion, Bruce Klein, Hearne Pardee, Bonnie Peterson and Gina Werfel.

An opening reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:00 PM on Friday, June 19 at the Yosemite Museum Gallery. The reception is open to the public.

This diverse exhibit continues through November 8. If you are visiting Yosemite we encourage you to stop by the Yosemite Museum Gallery to see these national artists’ interpretations of the beauty that is Yosemite. Yosemite Museum Gallery is located just west of the Visitor Center.

Midday saw some cloud build up over the crest of the High Sierra particularly around the Tioga Pass area. Tioga Pass got heavy rain around 2pm and the storm has now moved over Tuolumne Meadows with some light rain and thunder at 3pm.

Here is a shot from Olmsted point looking east towards Tenaya Lake, Tuolumne Meadows and the crest of the Sierra showing th big buildup.

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What’s happening to Yosemite’s big trees?
By Judy Lowe | 07.21.09

The giant trees on the West Coast are awe-inspiring, but surprisingly, they haven’t really been studied much over the long term, notes Peter Bowes of BBC News. The reason?

Unlike studies with smaller plants and almost all animals, no individual scientist is able to track a forest giant for its entire lifespan - from germination to death. They live for hundreds of years and play a vital role in the ecosystem long after they have died.

To remedy that situation, James Lutz of the University of Washington and his team – with the help of volunteers – have set up an open-ended project to monitor a 62-acre plot in California’s Yosemite National Park that hasn’t burned in the past 70 years. First they’re going to measure and map the estimated 30,000 trees in the area. Then they plan to return each year to see if any trees have died and try to determine why.

This is in response to a study by Dr. Lutz [PDF] and others that determined that “between the mid-1930s and the 1990s, the density of large-diameter trees in Yosemite National Park declined 24 percent.”