Home American Experience Season 5 Episode 20

Ishi: The Last Yahi Indian

American Experience · Season 5 · Episode 20
When "Ishi," the last surviving member of a small Indian tribe, walked into the small California town of Oroville in 1911, he became a media curiosity and scientific "specimen." The San Francisco Museum built a Yahi house where audiences could watch Ishi make arrowheads and shoot bows. Ishi went to the theater and received invitations of marriage. But contact would bring him terrible physical and psychological consequences.

Episode Details

Air date, runtime, timezone, and episode position.

Season
5
Episode
20
Air Date
02/Dec/1992
Air Time
21:00
Runtime
55 min

Overview

Episode summary.

When "Ishi," the last surviving member of a small Indian tribe, walked into the small California town of Oroville in 1911, he became a media curiosity and scientific "specimen." The San Francisco Museum built a Yahi house where audiences could watch Ishi make arrowheads and shoot bows. Ishi went to the theater and received invitations of marriage. But contact would bring him terrible physical and psychological consequences.

Episode Navigation

Move between previous and next episodes.