The missing from San Nicolas

Plaque in memory of Juana Maria in the Santa Barbara Mission

As the missing of San Nicolas (baptized as Juana Maria before her death ; † October 18, 1853 ), the last survivor of the Indian tribe of Nicoleño , who lived alone on her home island of San Nicolas for eighteen years , was called. She is also called "The Robinson Crusoe Girl".

After a massacre in 1814 by fur hunters of the Russian-American company , the Nicoleño were so decimated that they threatened to die out. Allegedly Franciscans of the Santa Barbara Mission are said to have asked for the rescue of the Indians, but this is questionable due to the vacancy of the Mission. What is certain is that the schooner Peor es Nada evacuated almost the entire Indian tribe to the mainland in 1835. Only one woman could not be located before a storm broke out. So she lived alone on the island for eighteen years. It was not until 1850 that the missionary José González Rubio financed an unsuccessful search operation, which prompted the fur hunter captain George Nidever to undertake further expeditions on his own until his crew finally found the woman in 1853.

When she was found, the woman was wearing a skirt made of cormorant feathers . She lived in a cave and a makeshift hut made of whale bones and ate seal meat, among other things. Their age was estimated to be around 50 years. All other members of the tribe had already died of infectious diseases at this point, so no one could understand their language anymore. Communication was only possible with a show of hands. She is said to have gratefully received her rescue and the accommodation with the Nidevers family, but she died of dysentery after seven weeks on the mainland .

According to romantic depictions from the 1880s, the woman is said to have jumped overboard when the ship was cast off in 1835 in order to save a toddler who had stayed on the island - her little brother or her own daughter. However, this alleged child is believed to have been killed by wild dogs that lived on the island.

Integration in the youth book "Island of the Blue Dolphins"

The teenage book Island of the Blue Dolphins , written by Scott O'Dell , is based on the story of the missing from San Nicolas . The book tells of the adventures that the girl has on the island. According to this book, the - much younger - Indian girl is said to have lived alone on the island for 18 years. When the Santa Barbara Mission people found it, it had a dog and two birds as pets, and wore a skirt made of cormorant feathers.

Web links

• Foreword Island of the Blue Dolphins. (PDF; 36 kB) Stolzverlag, accessed on July 3, 2009 . 
• The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History ( January 4, 2010 memento on the Internet Archive )
• Los Angeles Times