Life in the Village: Chapter 7

Modern rendering of the Peor es Nada, the schooner that took native islanders from San Nicolas Island to the mainland in 1835. Illustration by Elizabeth Chapin.

Karana and the women of the village pack their baskets with tools and other items. The two-masted sailing vessel is anchored outside the entrance to the cove. Four men are waiting with two rowboats to take the women to the ship, which the village men have already boarded. After a rough ride on the rowboats, the women climb up onto the ship.

Karana looks for her brother, Ramo, but he is nowhere to be found. Ramo is then spotted on the cliff. He had returned to the village for his hunting spear.

The ship moves away from the cove because the fierce winds of the storm are increasing. Although Karana begs for the ship to return to the island for Ramo, she is told that it is too dangerous. The ship will come back for Ramo on another day.

Despite the danger, Karana jumps overboard and swims through the stormy waters to the shore where Ramo is waiting.

Fact Check: Left Behind

Was anyone left on the island?  

What do we know? There is clear evidence that one woman was left behind and some evidence that a younger male, her son, was left as well, but that he died before the woman was brought to the mainland eighteen years later. We do not and probably never can know why the boat did not bring everyone on the island to the mainland. In his memoir, George Nidever reported that, because of an approaching storm, the ship had to depart abruptly before all the islanders had boarded. Today, boats still cannot safely load or unload passengers on the Channel Islands during rough ocean weather. But did one or two people “miss the boat,” or did one or both choose to hide? We don’t know.
 

What is the evidence? American linguist and ethnologist J.P. Harrington studied the languages and cultures of the native peoples of California. In the early 1900s (twentieth century) he interviewed many native speakers in the Santa Barbara area, and some told him about the Lone Woman. Several people shared stories about members of their family and other acquaintances who interacted with the woman who was brought off San Nicolas Island and taken to Santa Barbara in 1853. Through words, spoken in the Lone Woman’s language, songs, and hand gestures, listeners interpreted that she had remained on San Nicolas Island in 1835 with her son, and after he died in a canoe accident, she lived on the island alone until the time she arrived in Santa Barbara.

Voices from the Field

Dr. Sara Schwebel, Professor of English, University of South Carolina and editor of Island of the Blue Dolphins: The Complete Reader’s Edition (University of California Press, 2016). Dr. Schwebel discusses Karana jumping overboard as the ship is leaving the island.
Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto, Barbareño Chumash Elder, shares her family's stories about the Lone Woman.

Photos & Multimedia, Maps

Photo: Rough surf on San Nicolas Island. Courtesy of Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
Map: Historic map showing route taken to San Pedro by the Peor es Nada in 1835.

Teacher Resources

Writing Prompts and Lesson Plans