Customer Reviews

Walking Where We Lived: Memoirs of a Mono Indian Family

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As a Mono Indian, I have nothing but words of praise for Gaylen Lee's work. He begins by saying that he only speaks for himself, which is important since our families' experiences are all so different depending on contact and acculturation. I am grateful that this book was written, as it is something all people can read, appreciate and gain understanding of a California tribe.

The reader hears the authentic voice of a tribe of Indians of the US far west. Lee knows his people's language and uses Native words liberally. He exlains attitudes and concepts that were at such odds with white thinking that it made the Indians vulnerable to domination. He does not apologize for his people's culture. Adults whose knowledge of Indian life may have ended with elementary school social studies will find this book astonishing

Gaylen Lee has offered a gem! This non-linear memoir is so thoughtfully written that it provides delicate insight into the history and life of the Mono Indians while wrapping you in the story along the way.

Pulled along through the text you want to read more but not without appreciating each step. This is a true treasure.

I found this in my father's library while visiting his house in Mariposa, near Yosemite. It's an evocative and enlightening book which tells, in alternate chapters, the history of the Nim*, who are California Indians from the area I was staying in, and the personal history and experiences of the author, who grew up practicing many of their traditional ways. The non-historical chapters are arranged by seasons, beginning with spring and ending when winter begins to warm into another spring.

Lee's style is alternately scholarly, poetic, personal, and frank. He wrote this, the first personal account of the Nim by a Nim, partly because the existing written material on them, compiled by white anthropologists, was misleading or outright wrong. Some information is left out because it's "none of anybody's business;" other material, mostly involving the medicinal or food use of local plants, is deliberately vague to prevent foolish and inexperienced people from accidentally killing themselves.

The history is the usual tale of stolen land and broken treaties, attempted cultural genocide and fighting back. (One of the lighter bits quotes John Muir's horror at the incredible filthiness of some Indians he encounters while hiking in the woods; Lee points out that they were in a mosquito-infested area, and the Indians had sensibly covered themselves with a natural repellent - mud!) The personal narrative is written in a more intimate voice, sometimes earthy, sometimes funny, often moving. Lee's love for his family shines through every page.

I liked this a lot, and I think anyone who likes memoirs or nature writing would enjoy it. If you have a particular interest in California history or California Indian culture, it ought to be essential reading.

*The I in Nim has a diacritical I can't reproduce, but is pronounced like the u in put. Also, Lee explains that while the Nim and the Mono speak the same language and so have been lumped together by anthropologists, they do not consider themselves to be the same people. So the subtitle is a bit odd. Possibly it was added by the publisher.

Much has been written about Native Californians, but this book comes to us from a Nim (West Mono) writer who actually grew up in the old ways as taught to him by his people. It would be difficult to think of the indigenous Californians as "primitive" after reading this book. Their remarkably intricate crafts, legends, hunting and fishing techniques, and ceremonies make a single weave that endured for millennia--and that still endure, though tattered, in spite of a century of colonialism and genocide.

This book also dispels the dual urge to romanticize Native people and to see them as passive victims of whites. Lee reveals only those stories and ceremonial details already in print, keeping the rest private to avoid their exploitation. His people defended themselves with some success and resisted colonization even while adapting to it without losing their essence as a people.

Non-Indians reading "Walking Where We Lived" may have to re-think everything they once believed about California's indigenous population. On the eve of the state's sesquicentennial celebration, Gaylen D. Lee offers a view of the Gold Rush and subsequent settlement of California by Americans and immigrants that is clearly, from his perspective, nothing to celebrate. But Lee's book is hardly a whining narrative of the atrocities suffered by the native people of California. Instead, it is a celebration of his family and families like them who have managed to survive and perpetuate their culture, religion, and values despite the onslaught of intruders. Following the pattern of the seasons, Lee describes the lives of his ancestors, historical events which affected them, their loss of freedom, and the endurance of a way of life in the face of generations of adversity. "Walking Where We Lived" is rich with detail. Lee's description of the daily activities of his family and forbears is based upon knowledge passed to him and actual experience. As a child he accompanied his family to gather acorns, berries, and plant materials. He watched the women make baskets which he says are still used in his home. He learned to hunt and fish in the old way. Although he understood English, he spoke only the Nim language prior to beginning kindergarten in the mid-1950s. The generally peaceful life lived by the Nim and their fellows all over California was shattered as Americans moved to claim every inch of the new state following secession of the territory by Mexico and the world-famed gold rush. Stories of the Mariposa Indian Wars in the spring of 1851, and other skirmishes are generally told from the point of view of Central California settlers eager to rid their new land of pesky savages. "Walking Where We Lived" offers a view from the other side. It is not surprising for a man in Gaylen Lee's situation to be angry, and anger surfaces occasionally in his book. The region surrounding his life-long home place was once traversed freely by his ancestors. Now the land is fenced off and paved over. Rivers are dammed. Animals which once lived with and helped sustain the people are seldom seen. What is surprising, in the face of generally accepted lore about the Indians of California, is that Lee's family-and others-have maintained their culture and sense of community despite near annihilation.