Petition to Congress on Behalf of the Yosemite Indians (1978) (6 pages)

rin tate heir sno .gedits reat dno hat : all the nto ave ere the red ion the + ee one ba PETITION TO CONGRESS 275 find food for their horses, by reason of these wire fences of these few white men. Where there are no fences, the valley is cut up completely by dusty, sandy roads, leading from the hotels of whites in every direction. The head men of the whites also order their workmen to cut away the trees in every direction, and destroy the shade and beauty of the valley, so that they may have more room to plough and raise hay to sell to strangers, and to plant in gardens and build their houses upon. Every once in a while the State Government changes its head men, and every new lot turn away from their homes more and more of the old resident whites, whom we have known so long, and young, strong and hungry looking new faces come in their places. Ail seem to come only to hunt money. Why the old ones are turned away we do not know, but when they are sent away their houses are torn down, and new onesare built for these new men to live in. This does not seem to us to be right, neither do we believe the great Washington Government wants this wonderful valley to be ploughed up into a hay farm, or its fine forest trees to be cut down and destroyed for the pleasure of those whites who seem to be afraid of and to hate trees. This is not the way in which we treated this park when we had it; and we know that these white headmen often say that the Indians were the only ones who knew how to take care of Yosemite. We have heard that the white men in the valley intend to plough up nearly all of the open and level portion of the valley, to raise hay upon, and it will only be a short time before they will tell the Indians that they must go away and not come back any more. Now, in this valley grow all the things that we can rely upon for our winter supplies, and we cannot go away from here to gather acorns and nuts, or to hunt game, without trespassing upon some other Indians’ ground and causing trouble; besides, we do not wish to leave this valley if we can help it, though as it is 80verned now in the interest of only a few white people, and for them to make money in, we do not see that we can Possibly stay here much longer, for every year these few whites reach out for more, more, and drive us slowly further back. We have already been told by the former chief of the whites in this valley, that we must go away from here and stay away; but we say this valley was not given to us by our fathers for a day, ora year, but forall time. The whites are too numerous and powerful for us. We willingly keep the peace, we have no desire to do otherwise, but it is with an uneasiness that we see the time approaching when we must leave this spot which has been the home of our people from time immemorial. Therefore we pray our head white father at Washington and his Great Council to consider the following things, viz: First. Soon after this valley was taken away from us by the whites, the great Washington Council gave it to all the white American people for a pleasure ground, a park, where they might come and see the great rocks and waterfalls, and enjoy themselves. Now it seems to us that the laws imposed upon the head men of this valley by the Washington Government are being wilfully disregarded, and ‘that Yosemite is no longer a State or National Park, but merely a hay-farm and cattle range. Second. The valley is almost entirely fenced in, mostly with barbed wire. There are no walks for pleasure. There are horses and cattle in every field. There are nine fenced-off fields within a space of two miles or less, at this upper end of the valley, and consequently the People’s Park is a thing of the past. It has now resolved itself into a private institution, making only a show and pretence of being a public benefit and is supported by the State in this condition. Consequently, as we have been wronged and robbed this valley in the first place by the whites, and has been turned by them into a place for their own benefit, and has been withheld from us for 37 years and we have

rin tate heir sno .gedits reat dno hat : all the nto ave ere the red ion the + ee one ba PETITION TO CONGRESS 275 find food for their horses, by reason of these wire fences of these few white men. Where there are no fences, the valley is cut up completely by dusty, sandy roads, leading from the hotels of whites in every direction. The head men of the whites also order their workmen to cut away the trees in every direction, and destroy the shade and beauty of the valley, so that they may have more room to plough and raise hay to sell to strangers, and to plant in gardens and build their houses upon. Every once in a while the State Government changes its head men, and every new lot turn away from their homes more and more of the old resident whites, whom we have known so long, and young, strong and hungry looking new faces come in their places. Ail seem to come only to hunt money. Why the old ones are turned away we do not know, but when they are sent away their houses are torn down, and new onesare built for these new men to live in. This does not seem to us to be right, neither do we believe the great Washington Government wants this wonderful valley to be ploughed up into a hay farm, or its fine forest trees to be cut down and destroyed for the pleasure of those whites who seem to be afraid of and to hate trees. This is not the way in which we treated this park when we had it; and we know that these white headmen often say that the Indians were the only ones who knew how to take care of Yosemite. We have heard that the white men in the valley intend to plough up nearly all of the open and level portion of the valley, to raise hay upon, and it will only be a short time before they will tell the Indians that they must go away and not come back any more. Now, in this valley grow all the things that we can rely upon for our winter supplies,

and we cannot go away from here to gather acorns and nuts, or to hunt game, without trespassing upon some other Indians’ ground and causing trouble; besides, we do not wish to leave this valley if we can help it, though as it is 80verned now in the interest of only a few white people, and for them to make money in, we do not see that we can Possibly stay here much longer, for every year these few whites reach out for more, more, and drive us slowly further back. We have already been told by the former chief of the whites in this valley, that we must go away from here and stay away; but we say this valley was not given to us by our fathers for a day, ora year, but forall time. The whites are too numerous and powerful for us. We willingly keep the peace, we have no desire to do otherwise, but it is with an uneasiness that we see the time approaching when we must leave this spot which has been the home of our people from time immemorial. Therefore we pray our head white father at Washington and his Great Council to consider the following things, viz: First. Soon after this valley was taken away from us by the whites, the great Washington Council gave it to all the white American people for a pleasure ground, a park, where they might come and see the great rocks and waterfalls, and enjoy themselves. Now it seems to us that the laws imposed upon the head men of this valley by the Washington Government are being wilfully disregarded, and ‘that Yosemite is no longer a State or National Park, but merely a hay-farm and cattle range. Second. The valley is almost entirely fenced in, mostly with barbed wire. There are no walks for pleasure. There are horses and cattle in every field. There are nine fenced-off fields within a space of two miles or less, at this upper end of the valley, and consequently the People’s Park is a thing of the past. It has now resolved itself into a private institution, making only a show and pretence of being a public benefit and is supported by the State in this condition. Consequently, as we have been wronged and robbed this valley in the first place by the whites, and has been turned by them into a place for their own benefit, and has been withheld from us for 37 years and we have