Tragedy of a Lonely Woman (7 photos)

What does it feel like to be the last person in your family? tribe, people? What kind of feelings does a person have? What emotions does he worried?





Their artistic expression can be learned from Scott's story O'Dell's "Island of the Blue Dolphins." In it, the author described the life of a girl on island completely alone, after all the tribesmen left this land.



Not everyone knows, but the work is based on real events and tells the story of the misadventures of a woman named Juana Maria (the name was given after baptism), who became the last representative of the tribe Nicoleños, who lived on the island of San Nicolas.

Why was she the last?

There were very few of them left





San Nicolas Island

This island is located in the Pacific Ocean in front of the Californian coast. There were few people on San Nicolas, but they inhabited this piece of land for several thousand years. Everything was going well until then until in 1814 a group of Aleutian hunters landed on the island otter They accused one of the local residents of assault and murder. AND Almost all the inhabitants were slaughtered in cold blood. Out of 300 people alive only 20 left.

Californians, who learned about the brutal massacre, hastily organized rescue mission to get survivors off the island. And in haste While getting ready, they forgot about the child. According to another version, the baby jumped out of the boat, without finding his little brother in her.

Loner



The ship left the island. And the girl remained completely isolation. But she did not lose heart: she settled in a cave, fished, collected bird eggs. The wounded seals diversified their meager diet a little, which the waves washed ashore.

The Nicoleños burned almost the entire settlement before setting sail. And Juana had to slowly rebuild her home, using improvised material: whale bones. Amazingly, she lived in this mode for 18 years. years and retained clarity of mind and sober judgment.

Deliverance?



Alleged image of Juana Maria. The photo was found next to the image of George Nidever's wife

Salvation came in 1853 in the person of a sea otter hunter named George Nidever. The man was surprised to find on the island an old woman who was cutting up a whale with deft, clear movements. From a stranger She didn’t run away, she smiled welcomingly. In reality, a woman does not I was also 50 years old, just hard work and lifestyle took their toll imprint on Juana Maria's appearance.

They weren’t able to talk, because apart from the Nicoleños language No one knew the representatives of the tribe itself. And by that time the tribe ceased to exist: the Indians had no immunity to disease mainland. And after being rescued from the island, they died one after another.

The hunter was imbued with the fate of the brave woman and took her from himself to the Santa Barbara mission, where he entrusted him to the care of his wife. Newspapers exploded into headlines, articles appeared every day about the wonderful savage, who loves to sing and dance, wear a dress made of cormorant feathers and is delighted with horses and coffee.



Memorial plaque in memory of Juan Maria

At the suggestion of the savior's wife, the woman became a Christian. Apparently conversion to faith was voluntary and forced, because the savage didn’t say a word understood. And the name Juana Maria was also given to her after baptism.

She said something insistently, apparently trying to find out the fate of their fellow tribesmen. Which are no longer left in this world, and Juan became the last of the tribe.



Still from the film "Island of the Blue Dolphins" (1964) with Celia Kay, based on the story of Juana Maria

Unfortunately, life on the continent did not last long: The woman’s immune system turned out to be very vulnerable and could not withstand the attack new viruses. A month and a half after the move, October 19, 1953 year she died of dysentery, remaining in history as Lonely woman of San Nicolas.