Unfortunately, according to Daniel E Anderson in Origin of The Word Yosemite: The incorrect Miwok term, isumat i, does in fact mean grizzly bear. According to language experts, they seem to have confused two similar terms. … it would be better to give it an Indian name than to import a strange and inexpressive one that the name of the tribe who had occupied it, would be more appropriate than any I had heard suggested.” I then proposed “that we give the valley the name of Yo-sem-i-ty, as it was suggestive, euphonious, and certainly American that by so doing, the name of the tribe of Indians which we met leaving their homes in this valley, perhaps never to return, would be perpetuated.” Lafayette Houghton BunnellĪpparently, neither Bunnell nor his Commander Major James Savage paid close attention during their Miwok as a second language class. Bunnell simply wanted to honor the native people in the valley, as he was driving them off their land forever. Bunnell wrote, in Discovery of the Yosemite (1892): The story you may have heard is that the valley was named Yosemite (meaning Grizzly Bear) in 1851 by Bunnell of the Mariposa Battalion. How exactly did this happen? And why have I never heard about it before? Well, social justice warriors, get your vitriolic pens ready:ĭear, I would like to call your attention to the completely inappropriate and offensively named Yosemite National Park. There would be protests, and calls for a congressional investigation. Therefore, you decide to call this park “The Killers.” You decide to focus on something for which these First Nations people were famous. Reasonably, you want to honor the Native Americans who once lived there. Imagine you are charged with naming the crown jewel of the national park system.
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