Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah is born in 1856 in Pecwan Village, on the Klamath River near the mouth of Pecwan Creek, in Humboldt County. She is a Yurok and member of the Klamath Indian tribe.
She grows up learning the language, customs and stories of the Yurok people, but finds much that has been written by whites about American Indians is factually wrong.
So she writes a book, To the American Indian, (1916) to relate the stories, religion, and history of the Klamath tribe. She says in the introduction:
“I am a pure, full blooded Klamath River woman. I wear the Tat-toos on my chin that has [sic] been the custom for our women for many generations. I am known by my people as a Talth. My father being also a Talth, took me at a very early age and began training me in all of the mysteries and laws of my people. It took me years to learn, and the ordeal was a hard one.
“I was made a Talth and given the true Name of God, the Creator of all things, and taught the meaning of every article that is used in our festivals, together with all the laws governing our people. I can understand every word, every nod and gesture made in our language. Therefore, I feel that I am in a better position than any other person to tell the true facts of the religion and the meaning of the many things that we use to commemorate the events of the past.
“I will endeavor to tell all in a plain and truthful way without the least coloring of the facts, and will add many of our fairy tales and mother’s stories to their children. I will also give the names of many things in my own native tongue.”
In his 1921 review, anthropologist A. L. Kroeber calls it a “valuable contribution to the world’s knowledge of a specialized culture …”
Che-na-wah marries Milton James Thompson in 1875 and uses the name Lucy Thompson for those outside her culture. “Lucy” is the name given to her by Bill McGarvey, the proprietor of a local store in Klamath Bluffs, which is the focus of the first chapter in her book.
“The Thompsons” live along the Klamath River for years, moving to Eureka in 1910. Lucy Thompson dies in Eureka on February 23, 1932, a year after the death of her husband.
[Note: Handwritten on the back of the top photograph – “This picture was taken in May 1916 in a new Indian dress that I made myself and I wore it at the Sweet-Pea Carnival in the Lumbermans Association’s float and took first prize.”