Yosemite

Natural Wanders…
exploring the natural world through writing

Ah-wah-nee: Place of a Gaping Mouth (Yosemite)
AUSTRALIAN WELLBEING
No. 36
by Linda Lee Rathbun
photos by Steven David Miller

Ah-wah-nee: Place of a Gaping Mouth (Yosemite)
text by Linda Lee Rathbun
photos by Steven David Miller

Yosemite is one of the great geological wonders of the world. The valley is a profound slice in the Sierra Nevada mountain range: a colossal block of granite 645 kilometers long and 128 kilometers wide, the highest and longest range in the United States. Many millions of years ago it was just a broad valley set into gently rolling hills with a river roving through the soft landscape. Molten material was thrust upward, causing strong uplifts that created the westward sloping mountains. The river gained power and speed, cutting out a deep gorge. As the mountains peaked at 4,000 meters, a glacier river 200 meters thick filled the gorge, grinding and polishing the granite as it pushed through. Eventually a lake was formed and in time this was filled with silt, sand and rocks to become a marsh and then a fertile valley floor. Scales of granite flaked and peeled off, creating rock arches over 300 meters high and 545 meters wide, along with domes that towered 1,500 meters above the valley floor.
The first people to inhabit Yosemite arrived over 4,000 years ago. They must have thought they had found their Shangri-La. A pure, clean river filled with rainbow trout surged through the valley floor. Meadows of seed bearing grasses flanked the waters. Ferns with edible roots, bulb plants, berries and mushrooms grew abundantly. Trees with heavy bark, nuts and acorns thickly covered the slopes. Large and small mammals and many types of birds roamed throughout the valley. Sky-high granite walls offered protection from other tribes. First the Paiute Indians and then the Miwok Indians made the valley their home. They called it Ah-wah-nee, 'place of a gaping mouth', and they became the Ahwahneechees.
The Ahwahneechees lived in small villages made up of family groups. Those who lived on the north side of the river took the totem of the grizzly bear; those on the south side of the river took the totem of the coyote. In winter, families lived in 'u-mu-chas', a circular formation of pine and cedar poles lashed together at the top with wild grapevine and then covered with long strips of incense cedar bark. A small hole at the top let out the smoke of warming fires. Fur garments of bear, deer, mountain lion and coyote, along with blankets woven from strips of rabbit skin, provided protection from cold and snow. In summer the Indians moved to open brush arbors, wearing only buckskin skirts and loin cloths in the hot days and mild nights.
Life for the women of Ah-wah-nee unfolded with the cycle of the seasons. In late winter, mushrooms were gathered to be shredded and dried. In spring the young, tender clover was collected to be eaten raw and bulbs were dug up to be baked in earthen ovens. Seeds and berries were picked in the summer. In autumn, the staff of life for the Ahwahneechees was amassed: the acorns of the black oak trees. These acorns were stored in 'chuch-ahs' or granaries until they were needed in the winter. The women would grind them and then leach the meal to remove the bitter taste of tannin acid. In all, over 37 types of plants were used for food and medicine. Many other plants were used to weave baskets and these were also harvested when they were in optimum condition to create weaving material. Baskets were used for cooking, for carrying water and for many other practical and ceremonial purposes.
The men were hunters, using spears and bows and arrows. A good marksman could render a fatal arrow from 50 meters. The men would gather together at the village 'hangi', a ceremonial earth lodge and sweathouse. There they would cleanse themselves of all humor odor, then they would go to the river for a plunge in the icy water for good luck and to prevent let cramps on a long hunt. The hunters would disguise themselves in deerskin to stalk deer, mimicking their movements to get close enough to shoot with a bow and arrow. Most of the animals of the valley were hunted and used for food and clothing. All meat was roasted on open coals or in earthen ovens. It was also dried in long strips to be stored for use in the lean months of winter when snow was on the ground.
In spring and summer the Ahwahneechees would make the trip up out of the valley to the sub-alpine meadows above. There they would trade with the Mono Lake Paiute Indians. Their acorns and other goods were exchanged for salt, pinenuts, insect delicacies and obsidian.
Obsidian, or volcanic rock, was used by the men to make a variety of tools and weapons. The routine of everyday survival was broken up by feasts, ceremonies, celebrations and dances. Legends were told to pass on the Indian value system and history, and to explain creation to the children.
Although in many ways life must have been harsh, it was also full because of its pure purpose of survival and its rich spirituality. Then, in the early 1800s, the diseases of the Spanish swept through the tribes of American Indians, bringing a 'fatal black sickness' to the people of the place of a gaping mouth. The tribe was annihilated, and those few who survived left the valley that had been their home for thousands of years. Over a decade later an Ahwahneechee chief returned with some of his people to try to resume life in the valley. By then the white man had discovered gold in the foothills of the Sierras and, of course, life could never be the same again.
Yosemite was discovered by whites in 1851. A military battalion was sent in pursuit of a group of Ahwahneechees who had been disrupting gold mining operations and they were followed into the valley. A second battalion later rounded up the last of the tribe and they were forced to give up their land and to live on an Indian reservation. The whites named the valley after the Indian word for grizzly bear, 'uzu-mati'. Tales of the beautiful valley spread and visitors made the long journey by river steamer, stagecoach and horseback. Hotels and private homesteads were built, placing the area under threat of private ownership. Logging and grazing of cattle and sheep quickly took their toll on the ecology of the valley. Thankfully, in 1864 a few men of extraordinary vision proposed to he U.S. Congress that Yosemite be protected. President Lincoln signed the first recorded action by a government to set aside a piece of land 'for public use, resort and recreation, inalienable for all time'. It was held in trust by California until it became a national park in 1905. In 1984 it was listed as a World Heritage site. John Muir, the father of the conservation movement, came to visit Yosemite in 1868 and stayed until 1873. He said of it "Never before have I seen so glorious a landscape, so boundless an affluence of sublime mountain beauty…. The noble walls sculptured into endless variety of domes and gables, spires and battlements and plain mural precipices; all a-tremble with the thunder tones of the falling water."
The beauty of Yosemite lies in its grandeur. Granite cliffs rise high above, waterfalls plunge thousands of feet, giant sequoia trees, the largest of all living things, are clustered in groves. A national park of 1,914 square kilometers offers an abundance of scenery and life that is breathtaking.
Three hundred species of animals live in every ecological niche. Although the California grizzly bear is now extinct, the black bear still roams the park. Mule deer feed in meadows at dawn and dusk. Mountain lions and wildcats live in secret places and are only sometimes seen. Squirrels are everywhere, delighting visitors with their charming antics. Water-ouzel birds walk underwater in the cascading Merced River, searching for insect larvae to feed their young. Woodpeckers with red crests peck furiously at the bark of pine trees while their young sit close by begging loudly. Stellar's jays preen themselves in the morning sun, the rays lighting up their sapphire plumage. Thirty-six species of pine trees and 1,300 species of flowers, ferns and plants fill the land with color and texture.
For walkers there are hundreds of miles of tracks from short strolls on flat paths to strenuous seven-day hikes, with fully serviced huts along the way. Early summer is when the Merced River gushes along its course and waterfalls tumble throughout the valley with the highest concentration of falls in the world. In autumn the foliage turns to red and gold. In winter the ground is covered with one and a half meters of snow, creating ideal cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing conditions. In spring the flowers bloom: purple lupine, golden poppies, yellow evening primrose, white cow parsnips and a kaleidoscope of other blossoms and heather. There is bicycling on the valley floor, horseback riding on the steep mountain paths, river rafting in the painfully cold Merced River and rock climbing on sheer granite monoliths.
Today Yosemite's greatest challenge is coping with its three million visitors a year. The park is remarkably clean and pristine in spite of this massive human impact; the challenge is met by a highly organized park ranger system and an accommodation and tourist management system. If you have the opportunity to visit this majestic wonderland you should do so, avoiding the summer months if you abhor crowds. Late June was the only time we could see the park and, although the swarms of international tourists were a distinct disadvantage, the mighty hand of Mother Nature made man seem like a mere speck compared with her splendor and power.
In the slow, glowing light of early morning, or the softly slipping dusk, people can be evaded easily. Hopefully, most of Yosemite's visitors will continue to fall under its spell and understand that nature must be preserved, for its sake and for our sake. From the time it was first discovered by the Indian through to today, this breathtaking valley has inspired awe in all who see it.

THE END