Sixth Grade
Worksheets
The Yosemite People of the Ahwahnee Valley
Caption: Miwok House, Yosemite National Park, California, USA.
Native Americans lived in North America thousands of years before non-Native Americans set foot here. They grouped themselves together into tribes. Each tribe had its own way of living. This made each tribe unique. The Yosemite belonged to a group known as the Miwok. Yosemite, pronounced yoh-sem-i-tee, was a name given to this tribe of Native Americans by the white newcomers. It is thought to have come from a native word "uzumati," which means grizzly bear.
Legends tell of a band of peoples being led by the Great Spirit into a valley. These natives spoke the Miwok language and settled into the "Ah-wah-nee" valley, which means "a deep, grassy valley." Some say it means "place of the gaping mouth." Either way, the tribe took on the name of the valley in which they settled. It was later called Yosemite, which is now a national park in the state of California
The Ahwahneechees easily lived off the land in the Ahwahnee Valley. The streams were full of trout, and the forests provided bear, deer, and elk meat. The trees and bushes gave them acorns, pine nuts, fruits, and berries.
Around 1800, a mysterious disease forced them to leave their villages in the Ahwahnee Valley. The valley remained empty for many years. Several generations passed before a band of about two hundred Ahwahneechee decided to move back to this fertile valley. Once again, the Ahwahneechee tribe lived well in the valley.
