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Volume 041-2 - April 2022 (10 pages)
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Page: of 10
Book Review
Nevada City Nisenan
By Dr. Tanis Thorne
Reviewed by Mark Selverston, MA, RPA
A: a local archaeologist and historian I was thrilled
to pick up a copy of Dr. Thorne’s new book, Nevada City Nisenan. I was not disappointed. Dr. Thorne
brilliantly weaves together a wide variety of archival
data, historical records, maps, photographs and illustrations. The result is a
lively, visually captivating, and authoritative
synopsis of the Nisenan
experience.
The story begins with
an ethnographic overview of what traditional
Nisenan life was like prior to the gold rush, which
Thorne compiles from
interviews with Nisenan
informants and memoirs.
The reader is introduced
here to the geography, organization, customs, and diet
of the dense population of people who called the Yuba
and American River watersheds home. The wave of
immigration to their homeland following the discovery
of gold washed away traditions
and forced many tough choices.
It is difficult to fully grasp this
tumultuous period. The examples provided illustrate the dire
nature of the encounters between
Nisenan and the newcomers and
how the Natives endured them.
The Nisenan people who lived
in downtown Nevada City, the
Oustomah, were pushed farther
and farther out of town by incoming settlers and miners.
At this point of the tale, Thorne’s research partner, Hank
Meals, describes in detail the geology and evolving
methods of gold mining in the Sierra Nevada in general and specifically northeast of town in the vicinity of
Nevada City Nisenan’s reservation lands.
Two Indian Women, 1865.
Indian Spearing Salmon
Thorne observes that
the situation changed during
the decades bracketing the
turn of the century, largely
due to the decline in gold
mining, associated demographic swings, and
change in public attitudes. The local Nisenan
community and their
white allies organized and fought for
land just outside of Nevada City during this period,
and President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive
order setting aside Wokodot for
exclusive Indian use. The story
concludes with federal termination
of the Nisenan reservation in the
late 1950s as part of a broad change
in policy, and the ongoing battle for
federal recognition today.
How does one distill a people and their culture into a single
book? What was the Nisenan expe— rience? Dr. Thorne does a commendable job bringing the Nevada City Nisenan into
sharp focus and aptly establishes that they are still here.
Bravo. The effort to compile all of the available images
is praiseworthy. Thorne has simultaneously published
another great piece on the Nisenan, shedding light on
the work of gold rush artist Henry B. Brown and the
Treaty of Camp Union in 1851. I happily recommend
this easily digestible book to anybody interested in Native American culture and experiences during
the colonial period and recent past,
or who want to understand their
Nisenan neighbors at a deeper level. After diving deep into the experience of the Nevada City Nisenan,
it is alarming to learn that their
descendants must continue to fight
for recognition of their identity.
Available for sale at Harmony Books and SPD in
Nevada City. To learn more on Thorne’s offerings,
go to tanisthorne.com.
© Nevada County Historical Society Page 3 2nd Quarter, April 2022