4. Song of Waida Werris (the Polar Star).
“The circuit of earth which you see,
The scattering of stars in the sky which you see,
All that is the place for my hair.”[5]
[5] Hair in Indian mythology, as in other mythologies, is the equivalent of rays of light when connected with the sun and with planet luminaries.
THE YANAS
As a preface to the few myths of the Yanas which have survived, I beg to offer the following words touching this ill-fated people:
Previous to August, 1864, the Yanas numbered about three thousand, as I have been informed on the sound authority of reliable white men. Taking the names and population of villages given me by surviving Indians, I should say that this estimate is not too large.
During the second half of August, 1864, the Yanas were massacred, with the exception of a small remnant.
The Indians of California, and especially those of Sacramento Valley, were among the most harmless of human beings. Instead of being dangerous to settlers, they worked for them in return for fair wages. The Yanas were distinguished beyond others for readiness to earn money. White men occupied in tilling land knew their value, and employed them every season in haymaking and harvesting.
At the present day the Wintus, and the few Yanas that are left, go down the valley and labor during the season in hop-fields and vineyards.