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TELEFINA "PA-MAH-HAH" DICK
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| Very little, and I do mean very little, information is known about Telefina. She is Casson-Yokut, as stated on her childrens applications. The name "Telefina" offers some confusion within known documents. It is taken directly from Susan (page 2) and John (page 2) Lawrence's applications, as is her Indian name, Pa-Mah-Hah. Her age at death is also taken from those. They state she was 50 years old, and that she passed away around 1889, thus her birth year is about 1839. Some other applications, namely for those decended from Susan, state her name as Delfina (page 4 of Naomi Leonard's application) or Delphina (page 4 of Violet Leonard's application). Henry Leonard's application (page 4) says Telefina, same as his mothers. I tend to go with her own childrens version, rather than grand-children. Her parents names, taken from Susan's (page 4) and John's (page 4) applcations were Oo-tee-yah and Sus-kai-yah. Curiously, on Telefina's grand daughter's application (page 2 of Naomi Leonard's application), Naomi says Telefina's (Delfina) mother's name is Heycheta. Neither Violet's nor Henry's mention this. Again, I go by children's word over grand child's word, so I use Oo-tee-yah and Sus-kai-yah. Are Telefina and Callipene one and the same? An earliy document with referrence to a "Pa-ma-ha", Telefina's supposed Indian name, is the 1888 Yosemite Indian Petition to the United States. "Pa-ma-ha" is listed in the Yosemite Women section as one of the signers of the petition. However, it lists "Pa-ma-ha" as being a person named Callipene. If Callipene is Telefina, then she participated (1888) in this signing just before she died (about 1889). Note that at least three Yosemite area women were known as Callipene. Problem is, all three died AFTER Telefina's date of passing. This 1901 photo, (twelve years after Telefina's passing) of Callipene is of the Callipene that lived in Yosemite Valley, according to the article that accompanied it. She appears way over 62-63 years of age, which would be the age of Telefina in 1901. Additionally, that article clearly states that Pa-ma-ma was wife to one of the two Captain John's, and a decendant of Chief Teneya. Also, I have no idea if it makes a difference, given variations on spellings of names, but note "Pa-mah-hah" versus "Pa-ma-ha". Given there can be more than one person named Callipene, so too can there be more than one person named Pa-ma-ha/Pa-mah-hah. Adding to the mystery, both Susan and John Lawrence, Telefina's children, signed that petition. So if they signed, then why not Telefina "Pa-mah-hah" Lawrence? One more point - It's been said that Pa-ma-ha is a Paiute name. Not Miwok. Not Casson. And both Captain John's as well as Teneya were Paiute. Telefina was Casson. So I do not think this Calipene is Telefina. I also do not think she went by Pa-mah-hah. But I could be wrong. UPDATE - It appears much of this came from the hand-written history (pg 1) (pg2) of Henrietta Anita "Annie" Escalante, via a cousin of mine. The last name of Dick, though, I got from Ancestry.com, off some relative's Family Trees (siders and FRANKLIN-HAMSHER. The siders one seems to have gotten it from the FRANKLIN-HAMSHER Ancestry.com entry). I saw no hard documentation on where that name came from. This brings us to that photo above- the full version is here. The four people are as follows: Susan Lawrence (far left), John Lawrence (left), Sally Ann Dick (right) and Johnny (is Johnny actually his name, or is that really Charlie?) Dick (far right). Why did I use the Dick children for Telefina's photo? Well, there are no photos of Telefina that I know of, and these two are in the photo with Telefina's children. I was thinking that Sally Ann and Johnny (Charlie?) Dick may be related to Telefina receiving the last name "Dick" somehow. The source from where I got their names is at this location on the official Yosemite National Park website. *note the blurb at the bottom of that page... it refers to Jimmy Lawrence, the father of the two kids in the main articles photo. On the other hand, I have seen some webpages discussing a Sally Ann Dick from Mariposa/Yosemite, and they suggest she is Mono-Paiute, which would mean no blood relation to Telefina, as Telefina is Casson Yokut. Maybe they're just in the photo together because the photographer wanted all kids in it... I'd still like to know where the Dick name came from for Telefina though. Should you have any more information by way of documents or any questions, you can contact me on Facebook at this link. |
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