ISHI PROJECTILE POINT 119 FIG. 10 (above): “Arrowheads of obsidian, fl int, and glass, made by Ishi.” From Saxton T. Pope, “Yahi Archery,” in A. L. Kroeber (ed.), University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 13 (1917–1923), no. 3, pp. 103–152, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1918, pl. 21. These same techniques continue to speak to us after more than a century. Lithic fl aking methods serve as cultural fi ngerprints, gradually evolved over eons of any given group’s unique developmental vector. Ishi’s lithic style is telling in several ways. While Kroeber preferred that Ishi use obsidian for his demonstrations because he considered it to be historically accurate, the fact that the latter frequently worked in glass is believed to speak to his precontact life in which the massive cultural upheaval of the Gold Rush had disrupted traditional trade routes that had long brought obsidian from the north. He and others adapted to this situation by repurposing discarded glass bottles and even distinctively colored glass electrical insulators from power and telegraph lines. The structural consistency of glass allowed him to develop a fi neness of technique that would have been more diffi cult to realize in stone, and he became one of the virtuoso practitioners of his craft. Stylistically his works are revealing as well. The majority of the projectile points he produced at the museum are a variation of the Redding subtype of Great Basin desert side-notched points, with particularly delicate and refi ned “narrow entry” keyhole forms composing the notches. Hearst Museum anthropologist Steven Shackley has observed that this is a form more typical of the neighboring Penutian-speaking Nomlaki and Wintu peoples, who competed for resources with and were traditional enemies of the Yana/Yahi. Since lithic techniques were traditionally transmitted from one male relative to another, the implication of this is that Ishi learned his techniques from a member of a competing group, likely because external pressures had so reduced population numbers that longstanding enemies had to band together in order to survive. This theory remains controversial, especially given that Ishi’s lithic style clearly evolved during his time at the museum, and so should not be considered typical of Yahi tradition but rather the unique product of his individual experience. Though in many ways non-traditional, this small arrowhead represents a large history, while at the same time casting light on what the notion of tradition really means. With thanks to Pete Bostrom, Douglas Deihl, Emmaline Deihl, and Jeb Taylor.
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