A photograph of Mirror Lake, Yosemite, taken on the trail, with Mount Watkins in the background. It is used in the Native American historical fiction, Great Spirit of Yosemite: The Story of Chief Tenaya. The Ahwahneechees, who were the original inhabitants of Yosemite Valley, called the lake Ahweiya (Ah-wei-ya), meaning “quiet water”. The legend of Ahweiya and how the Ahwahneechees came to be called Yosemites is described below the photograph.
Legend of Ahweiya (Mirror Lake, Yosemite National Park)
One morning a young chief of the Ahwahneechee tribe was making his way to Ahweiya (Mirror Lake, Yosemite National Park), where he planned to spear some fish. While he was walking towards the lake, a huge grizzly bear suddenly confronted him. Of course, the bear resented this intrusion into his domain, reared up to full height, roared, and made a fierce attack on the young chief. But the chief, who was carrying no weapons, quickly grabbed a dead tree limb that was lying nearby. He then used this weapon to try to defend himself.
Subsequently, a prolonged and ferocious fight took place in which he was gravely wounded. Eventually, he succeeded in killing the bear. Finally, bleeding and exhausted, he slowly dragged himself back to the village. Once there, he told his story to admiring members of his tribe. They tended to his wounds and, in acknowledgment of his bravery and skill, called him Yosemite (Yo-sem-ite), after the fearless monarch of the forest, the grizzly bear. This name was handed down to his children. In time, because of their fearless and warlike nature, the entire tribe came to be called Yosemites.
Mariposa War of 1850/51
The Ahwahneechees were the indigenous peoples living in and around Yosemite Valley. They came to be called Yosemites (meaning grizzly bears or fierce as grizzly bears) by neighboring groups, without doubt, because of their fearsome reputation. (Other interpretations also suggest the name translates as “killers”). This name was adopted by members of the Mariposa Battalion who invaded Yosemite (Ahwahnee) in 1851, during the time of the California Gold Rush. Having driven out the Ahwahneechees/Yosemites, the Battalion burned and razed their villages to the ground. Then they renamed the valley Yosemite in honor of the people they had driven out. It is the name still used today.
Great Spirit of Yosemite: The Story of Chief Tenaya is a⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐reviewed historical novel that re-tells the true and astonishing tale of Chief Tenaya and his people as they resisted the invasion of their homelands.
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