Amanda - 12/2/25 Reflection on Ishi Documentary

 In class today, we watched the documentary on Ishi, the last member of the Yashi tribe. Because of bounties put on Native Americans at the time, genocides targeting Native tribes as well as continued Western expansion, pushing Native Americans out of their homelands, many Native Americans were murdered and wiped out by white men. What I found interesting about this documentary was that Ishi believed that he was the last man on Earth, because white people were not considered human to him and his tribe. I think this is because of the violence that white people caused towards Native tribes and the oppressive attitude towards Native Americans. 

I can't imagine the isolation that Ishi went through as well as the grief of having lost his entire tribe due to violence. What I found ironic is that the white bounty hunters did not view Natives as human beings, which is why Natives were killed for money. 

A question I had about this documentary was how exactly did anthropologists communicate with Ishi and vice versa? I know that in the documentary it stated that Ishi talked with a member of the Yana tribe,  a cousin tribe of the Yashi tribe, but what similarities could be found within both of their languages? 

One thing I hated about this documentary was how Ishi was treated like a circus animal. At some point the documentary says that it was considered that Ishi be put in a museum in a glass case! I think education is important and this time period was very different than the one we have now, but wasn't there any better way to connect Ishi to anthropologists and the public, so both parties can benefit? 

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