The Spirit of the Yosemite

This Native American legend comes to us from the Yosemite valley of California. In the very beginning, it was the Great Spirit himself who had led the Miwok people to the grassy valley of Ah-wah-nee. Today, there is a national park where their legacy still stands in rock formations—El Capitan and the Half Dome.

Sitting atop the great rock tower, the young chief To-tau-kon-nu’la watched over his people. Life was good and all was well with the world, at least in their part of it. The Great Spirit had blessed them with nature’s plenty; there was trout in the river; fruits, berries, acorns and pines on the trees; and the forests were full of deer and other animals that provided them with meat to eat and clothes to wear. As the early rays of the sun lit his rocky throne and gently moved on to the steep cliffs and granite domes that dotted the landscape, To-tau-kon-nu’la heard a soft voice whisper his name.

He turned to see a beautiful maiden, fair-skinned, golden-haired and with eyes as blue as the summer sky. She was unlike any woman he had ever seen. She was seated on the southern granite dome and she had delicate, cloud-like wings on her shoulders.

At once he knew who she was: Tis-sa-ack, the guardian spirit of the valley. She smiled at him and disappeared like a dream behind the dome. To-tau-kon-nu’la knew it was no dream for she had left behind a cloud of mist. He thought he heard the soft rustle of her garments and followed but the pines wove a blue mist around her and hid her from his eyes.

Every day he climbed across the great granite towers and wandered through the forests and valley in search of her. But he never saw her again. It was not a dream, he told himself every day, hoping against hope that she would hear the longings of his heart. Sometimes as he sat in his tower at night, guarding his people, he thought he saw her beautiful face. As To-tau-kon-nu’la’s love grew stronger, he forgot his people.

The sun burned in the sky and the rains did not fall. The wind whistled mournfully as the corn drooped and withered; the streams ran dry. The flowers wilted and the deer disappeared from the forest. The people of Ah-wah-nee called out in vain for their chief, who had neglected them in his quest for love.

Tis-sa-ack returned one day to see the valley in neglect. She grew sad when she realized it was To-tau-kon-nu’la’s love for her that had caused this. Kneeling on the grey granite dome, she prayed to the Great Spirit to bring rains to Ah-wah-nee.

The Great Spirit heard her. All at once, the earth trembled and with a mighty crash, the dome split into two. Water gushed down its sides, filling up the streams and drenching the valley. Tis-sa-ack’s tears flowed down the cleft rock and formed the mirror lake below so that the streams would never run dry. The corn grew in the fields once again, the flowers bloomed and the bees hummed. The fish gleamed in the waters and the deer returned to the forests.

The beautiful Tis-sa-ack disappeared, leaving behind the lake, the river Merced and her broken throne, the half dome. When she flew away, soft, downy feathers from her wings fell on the banks of the river and the meadows overlooking To-tau-kon-nu’la’s watch tower and turned into tiny, white violets.

When To-tau-kon-nu’la returned and found Tis-sa-ack gone, a great sadness came over him. He took his hunting knife and carved his likeness on his rock tower, El Capitan, to show his people he had gone west again in search of his beloved, leaving his image to guard the gates of Ah-wah-nee.