To post about Ishi a second time, against my better judgement: I have not only an academic interest in this topic but an admittedly emotional one. To quote one of the other students -- I forget who -- "this really, really pisses me off." The lack of care with which this man was treated, and the callous insistence of the perpetrators that it was justified by necessity -- there's just something patently wrong about it.

The man has been dead for over a hundred years, and I still can't help but mourn for the loss he must've felt. I hope, sincerely, that Ishi's spirit finds some sort of peace, if it does continues to exist as he believed it would. Part of me hopes he's wrong about his soul, and it doesn't work as he described -- the alternative, of course, is that he would have no body with which to join his tribe in the afterlife. 

It's comforting to see modern anthropologists being so careful and respectful of oral cultures, but disappointing that it required such an "adjustment period," if it can be called that. The anthropologists at Djulirri are the model, from what I've seen -- they were consistently respectful, friendly, inquisitive, and attentive.

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