Someone at myyosemite.com posted the article "Mary Wilson, a Yosemite Miwok Chief?" that was written last week. Here is the link below;

http://www.myyosemite.com/mary-wilson-yosemite-miwok-chief

Someone responded to the post on the blog. I believe the respondent to the article is either a Yosemite National Park worker or someone who knows persons in the non-profit Southern Sierra Miwuk. Here are some interesting remarks the person posted;

"The author of the above whining rant is the one who is muddying the historical waters of early Yosemite People." and "One of the spiritual leaders of the mariposa group, Jay Johnson, is a descendent of Chief Tenaya and he self identifies as Miwok."

Actually the people who are muddling the true history of the early Yosemite People are those who never read the first accounts of the man who met Chief Tenaya and his band of Yosemite people. That would include Yosemite National Park, the Yosemite Fund, the Yosemite Association, writers, and some people who have a lot to gain by continuing the false history of Yosemite Valley's Native people.

First the only person who met Chief Tenaya and wrote everything we know about him was a man by the name of Lafayette H. Bunnell. Bunnell wrote a book in the 1800s, The Discovery of the Yosemite, and the Indian war of 1851, which led to that event, chronicling his encounter with Tenaya and his band of Ahwahneechees. Several times in his book Bunnell wrote that Chief Tenaya and his band were Mono Paiutes. Not once did Bunnell write that Tenaya was a Miwok or the founder of the Miwok colony of Ahwahnee. In his book Bunnell writes that those who became the Miwoks, were followers of Chief Bautista (Vow-chester) and Cow-chitty (Kau'tcitti) who were the allies of the Mariposa Battalion and enemies of Chief Tenaya. They even sell Dr. Lafayette H. Bunnell's book in the Yosemite National Park bookstore and is the 'bible' of Yosemite Indian history.

The last sentence of the respondent's comment of the article stated that Jay Johnson, who is the "spiritual leader" and elder of the Southern Sierra Miwuk, has self-described himself as a Miwok and a descendent of Chief Tenaya. Jay Johnson is just one of the four or five elders of the Southern Sierra Miwuks. The others are Della Hern, Helen Hogan, and others. They are well known persons and in several books and videos.

Now did some of these elders always claim they were Miwoks? Well not according to their Sherman Indian High School photos in their yearbooks. In their young adult lives in high school they identified themselves as Paiute Indians and not Miwoks. See the photo of their high school pictures with tribal identification of Paiute. So apparently the Miwok elders of the group did not always identify themselves as Miwok, but as the original Yosemite Indian tribe, the Paiutes.

In this video on Youtube one of the elders of the Southern Sierra Miwuks is identified as a Paiute in a recent video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEmZtqCCELk

Even though Jay Johnson and his brother Burleigh have children who are currently enrolled members in Nevada Paiute tribes he does have Miwok ancestry. But the Miwok ancestry was not from Chief Tenaya. Johnson was not a direct descendent of Chief Tenaya on his Miwok side. Henry and Mary Ann Johnson, Jay Johnson's paternal grandparents stated on their 1928-1929 California Enrollment Applications that their chief was Chief Bautista, the same chief who was the ally of James Savage of the Mariposa Battalion and enemy of Chief Tenaya. It was Bautista who gave the term "Yosemite" to the Ahwahnee Indians, which in his language meant "The Killers" and said he was afraid to enter Yosemite Valley. (See Photo 2 in Gallery)

Jay Johnson's maternal great grandparent, Captain Sam, stated on his 1928-1929 California Indian Application that he and his wife Susie Sam were Mono Lake Paiutes and Johnson's maternal grandfather, Bridgeport Tom, said on his application he was a Mono Lake Paiute. None stated they were related to Chief Tenaya, who by the way was born at Mono Lake. (See photo 3 in Gallery)

So I believe the respondent who questioned the accuracy in the previous article should re-check his own facts, and not use those of the Yosemite National Park Service.