Chief Tenaya's Curse

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ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
bouldering
Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 20, 2012 - 03:53am PT
I have long thought Tenaya's curse is really in effect, and has been all these years. So many tragic deaths, accidents and heart stopping near-misses in the park. I had my own brush with destiny in the '70s while descending from North Dome via Basket Dome etc to Mirror Lake. Here is part of an article on the subject (copied and pasted from the internet) ...
This week some of the leaders of Yosemite-Mono Lake Paiute Indian Community met in Yosemite investigating the revised Yosemite Visitor Center and Indian interpretation of the Park. While they where there they spoke of the curse of Chief Tenaya and curse that still exists today. That the Paiutes were pushed and forced out of Yosemite, and later the descendents of the scouts now claim Yosemite as their own homeland. Yosemite National Park Service has openly endorsed and paid the non-profit Southern Sierra Miwuks to change the history of original indigenous people of Yosemite, the Paiutes. Incidentally one of the leaders recounted how a Yosemite-Mono Lake Paiute medicine man had said that when the last Indian is pushed out of Yosemite Valley the rocks will start to fall in Yosemite. How the Indian scouts for the white Mariposa Battalion, who now claim they are the original Ahwahneechees, were frightened to enter Yosemite Valley because they were afraid of “Monahs”, which they called “Yosemites”, or in their language “The Killers”, who they considered witches and wizards.



On the second expedition to capture Chief Tenaya and his band, the Miwok scouts had blocked the escape of Tenaya has he tried to escape to Mono Lake, and during that time Tenaya’s son was shot and murdered as he tried to escape. Tenaya looked into the face of Col. Boling who led the expedition and holding back his tears he angrily cursed them:

"Kill me, sir Captain! Yes, kill me, as you killed my son; as you would kill my people if they were to come to you! You would kill all my race if you had the power. Yes, sir, American, you can now tell your warriors to kill the old chief; you have made me sorrowful, my life dark; you killed the child of my heart, why not kill the father? But wait a little; when I am dead I will call to my people to come to you, I will call louder than you have had me call; that they shall hear me in their sleep, and come to avenge the death of their chief and his son. Yes, sir, American, my spirit will make trouble for you and your people, as you have cause trouble to me and my people. With the wizards, I will follow the white men and make them fear me. You may kill me, sir, Captain, but you shall not live in peace. I will follow in your foot-steps, I will not leave my home, but be with the spirits among the rocks, the water-falls, in the rivers and in the winds; wheresoever you go I will be with you. You will not see me, but you will fear the spirit of the old chief, and grow cold. The great spirits have spoken! I am done."


Source: http://thehive.modbee.com/node/10248
Karl Baba

Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
Aug 20, 2012 - 04:40am PT
Thanks for posting that. I communicate a little respect to the Spirits when I venture down Tenaya Canyon
PEace

Karl
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Aug 20, 2012 - 09:12am PT
Great post.
We also kept a respectful mind and heart in the canyon. He let us pass, but still took a toll in small ways......
Spider Savage

Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
Aug 20, 2012 - 10:00am PT
Does Greg Stock know about this!
Karl Baba

Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
Aug 20, 2012 - 10:51am PT
Hey Karl,, if you TRULY cared about the indian spirits, youd leave and never return to the valley! ;-)

I'm one of them! We get reborn. The cowboys become the Indians and the Indians become the cowboys

There's a grinding hole rock 20 feet off my back porch in Wawona

Peace

Karl
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 20, 2012 - 10:57am PT
I'm not being disrespectful or impugning the veracity of this soliloquy but
I am wondering who recorded it in all its length and subtlety.

For the record I say kick the Honkies out and give Yosemite back to those
who would take care of it. The Ahwahnee would make a fine casino.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Aug 20, 2012 - 04:30pm PT
Awesome reading, in case you haven't seen it.

Yosemite Legends
By Bertha Smith
1904

You can get it here:
BookFinder

The leather-bound, gold-gilded first edition is spectacular.


corniss chopper

climber
breaking the speed of gravity
Aug 20, 2012 - 04:43pm PT
If only Tenaya had figured his options differently and retained
ownership of the Valley. His descendants would probably be
the richest in the state now, and a big casino would stand where the
Ahwahnee hotel is.
Wade Icey

Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
Aug 20, 2012 - 04:47pm PT
i see you're a fan of historical fantasy as well...
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Aug 20, 2012 - 04:52pm PT
Did Chief Tenaya speak English? If not, as seems likely, who translated and recorded his speech? Was it more or less contemporaneous?

It sounds like there may be more truth to this one than the Chief Seattle hoax, though: http://www.snopes.com/quotes/seattle.asp
crasic

climber
Aug 20, 2012 - 05:34pm PT
I'm pretty sure the giant talus piles underneath every face is evidence enough that rocks have been falling from the mountains for eons.
aspendougy

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
Apr 6, 2018 - 09:43pm PT
Certain climbers such as Jim Bridwell and Ron Kauk seem to me to have an "Indian Cast" about their countenance and facial features. Being really into the climbing lifestyle is the closest you can come to reliving and working out aspects of a prior native American life in a former incarnation.
hellroaring

Trad climber
San Francisco
Apr 6, 2018 - 10:39pm PT
True that Tami!...
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Apr 7, 2018 - 08:56am PT
Being self-sufficient in the world has always been an aspiration of mine, and going off on some long trips with little support never quite touched the goal.

Imagine being the first person to walk onto the North American continent.

But back to this thread, the frowning visage of the Chief looks down upon you as you walk Tenaya Canyon


and while there are tributes to early white explorers, redamming the Merced at the terminal moraine would restore much of the Valley to it pre-European condition, a tribute to those people who first lived there.


Bierstadt, c.1863-75
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Apr 7, 2018 - 09:19am PT
it isn't the idea of being "first"

it's the idea that there was no one else there but you
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Apr 7, 2018 - 09:38am PT
After all, I guess, it really is just the same thing as realizing you haven't seen a McDonalds for a whole week...
Jim Clipper

climber
from: forests to tree farms
Apr 7, 2018 - 09:44am PT
beating dead horses

http://fortune.com/2018/03/29/starbucks-yosemite/
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