Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
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The remains of Ishi, who was falsely thought to be the last of his tribe, will finally be returned to his people, The Redding Rancheria Pit River Tribe. Ishi will at long last be able receive a proper burial. The people of the Pit River Tribe are Ishi's closest living relatives, according to the director of the Smithsonian Institutes, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Robert W. Fri.

According the NMNH director, Robert W. Fri, Ishi who died in 1916, was not the last of his kind. The descendants of the Yana/Yahi Indians live in northern California, on the Redding Rancheria home of the Pit River Tribe of Indians. Fri said, "He may be the last Yahi, but he was related closely to the Yanas. It was the Yanas that became part of the Redding group."

After Ishi's death in 1916, and contrary to his beliefs and wishes, an autopsy was performed on his body. It was believed that Ishi died of tuberculosis. During the autopsy, Ishi's brain was removed and stored for further study. the rest of the remains were cremated. The incomplete ashes were put in a black jar which was placed in the Olivet Memorial Park located in Colma, California.

Ishi's brain has been held by the Smithsonian Institution's anthropological collection, for more than 80 years. The struggle over Ishi's remains began, when his brain was found, by accident, sitting in a jar of formaldehyde in a Smithsonian storage facility near Washington, earlier this year.

Indians of California and others have been battling for the return of Ishi's remains, since learning that his brain had been found.

Members of the Maidu tribe and the Butte County Native American Cultural Committee initiated the call for the return of Ishi's remains. The tribe and committee said the most important thing was that Ishi's remains be put into the hands of Indians and accused the Smithsonian of stalling, by using the excuse the Maidu's had not been proven to be directly related.

Robert Fri, in defense of the Smithsonian, said the institute was moving slowly to make sure that all Indian groups had time to voice their concerns. Fri further stated, "The Smithsonian Institution recognizes that all California Native Americans feel a powerful connection with Ishi and a responsibility to see his remains are united and given a proper burial." Fry added that the tribe will choose the time and place for the return of Ishi's remains.

Of the museum's collection of approximately 18,000 American Indian remains, about 4,000 have been returned, due in part, to the The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The NAGPRA is a federal law which includes a mandate for the production of inventories of certain collections housed at institutions which receive federal funds and return of identifiable human remains to Native American Indians.