{{short description|Chief of the Ahwahnechee people in Yosemite in 1851}} '''Tenaya''' (died 1853) was a leader of the [[Ahwahnechee people]] in [[Yosemite Valley]], [[California]].
==Background== Tenaya's father was a leader of the [[Ahwahnechee people]] (or Awahnichi).<ref name=h18>{{cite web|url=http://www.abovecalifornia.com/lib/Houghton/18.php|title=Discovery of Yosemite, Chapter XVIII|access-date=2008-05-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217114105/http://www.abovecalifornia.com/lib/Houghton/18.php|archive-date=2007-02-17|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Ahwahneechee had become a tribe distinct from the other tribes in the area. [[Lafayette Bunnell]], the doctor of the [[Mariposa Battalion]], wrote that "Ten-ie-ya was recognized, by the [[Mono tribe]], as one of their number, as he was born and lived among them until his ambition made him a leader and founder of the [[Northern Paiute|Paiute]] colony in Ah-wah-ne."<ref name=h18 />
The Ahwahneechee occupied Yosemite Valley until a sickness destroyed most of them. The few Ahwahneechee left [[Yosemite]] Valley and joined the [[Mono Lake Paiutes]] in the eastern [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]. Tenaya's father married a Mono Paiute woman and Tenaya was born from that union. Tenaya grew up amongst his mother's people.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
==Leadership== An Ahwahneechee [[medicine man]] and friend of his father persuaded a young Tenaya to return. Tenaya took the few remnants of the Ah-wah-nee-chees that had been living with the Monos and Paiutes and reestablished themselves in Yosemite Valley with him as their leader.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/discovery_of_the_yosemite/05.html|title=Discovery of the Yosemite, Chapter V, by Lafayette H. Bunnell|website=www.yosemite.ca.us|access-date=2017-10-17}}</ref> Tenaya had four wives.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/discovery_of_the_yosemite/06.html|title=Discovery of the Yosemite, Chapter VI, by Lafayette H. Bunnell|website=www.yosemite.ca.us|access-date=2017-10-17}}</ref>
The Ahwahneechee were feared by the surrounding [[Miwok]] tribes, who called them ''yohhe'meti'', meaning "they are killers"<ref name=origin>{{cite web|url=http://www.yosemite.ca.us/history/origin_of_word_yosemite.html|title=Origin of the word Yosemite|access-date=2008-05-08}}</ref>
By 1851, conflicts between the non-indigenous miners and the Native Americans in the Sierra started to increase. The state of [[California]] decided to send the Natives to [[Indian reservation|reservation]]s. The [[Mariposa Battalion]] was formed to carry out the relocation, marching Tenaya and his people to the [[Fresno Reservation]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Grover |first1=Stephen F. |last2=Conway |first2=John |last3=Russell |first3=Carl P. |date=1926 |title=Early Years in Yosemite |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25177844 |journal=California Historical Society Quarterly |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=328–341 |doi=10.2307/25177844 |jstor=25177844 |issn=0008-1175|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Many of Tenaya's band left Yosemite Valley instead of following Tenaya. As they approached the Fresno reservation, they fled back to the Yosemite Valley. The Brigade then re-entered the Valley, captured Tenaya's sons, and killed his youngest son. Tenaya then agreed to go back to the reservation.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}
==Death== {{Unreferenced section|date=May 2021}}
By the summer of 1851, Tenaya grew tired of the reservation. He gave his pledge that he would not disturb any non-indigenous people. However, in 1852, a group of [[Prospecting|prospector]]s were killed in the Valley. Tenaya and his band fled to join the Mono Paiutes. He returned to the Valley in 1853. He was [[stoned to death]] in a dispute with the Mono Paiutes over stolen horses. The remaining survivors who were not killed were taken back to Mono Lake and absorbed into the Mono Lake Paiute population.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
Another version of the story says that in the spring of 1852, a party of eight prospectors entered the Valley. One of the prospectors had lured his comrades there to kill them and take possession of a mine they held in partnership. He had incited the Yosemites to kill the intruders, arranging his escape and letting the blame fall on them. Late in the summer of 1853, Tenaya and some of the men of his band were playing a hand bone game with some Mono Indians. The gambling became tense and a fight broke out which ended with Tenaya being struck in the head with a rock crushing his skull along with several others of his band killed as well. As was their custom, they were cremated and wailing was heard for two weeks. After the death of their leader, the few remaining members dispersed between Mono Lake and to the near west.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
==Legacy== [[Tenaya Lake]] was named after Tenaya.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/thedirt/article/Roots-of-native-names-2712675.php | title=Roots of native names | work=SFGate | date=December 7, 2002 | access-date=27 March 2018 | author=Sullivan, Ron}}</ref> Tenaya Middle Schools in [[Fresno, California]] and [[Merced, California]] are named after him. An elementary school in [[Groveland, California]] is also named after Chief Tenaya.
==See also== * [[History of the Yosemite area]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/yosemite_indians_and_other_sketches/indians.html The Yosemite Indians] * [http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/discovery_of_the_yosemite/ ''Discovery of the Yosemite''] by [[Lafayette Bunnell]] * [http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/the_last_survivor/ ''The Last Survivor''] by H. J. Taylor contains an account of the last survivor of Tenaya's original tribe. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060112085307/http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/5697/mythsdepictedbydemmingandhitte.jpg 1910 Miwok tribal area map] Map of Miwok territory by noted California Anthropologist C. Hart Merriam. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060521032840/http://thehive.modbee.com/?q=node%2F153 Historic Yosemite Indian chiefs - with photos]
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{{Yosemite National Park}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenaya}} [[Category:19th-century Native American leaders]] [[Category:History of the Sierra Nevada (United States)]] [[Category:Yosemite National Park]] [[Category:Mono people]] [[Category:Paiute people]] [[Category:1853 deaths]] [[Category:Year of birth unknown]] [[Category:Deaths by stoning]] [[Category:Native American people from California]]