She spent 18 years alone on an island just 60 miles away from the California coast, and her life inspired a famous children's book, years of anthropological research, and now a documentary film.
Filmmaker Paul Goldsmith's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island seeks to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding the life of that woman, who many know as Juana Maria. She was made famous by Scott O'Dell's 1960 children's book, The Island of the Blue Dolphins, which is how Goldsmith first learned of her.
"I thought it was an extraordinary story," he said. "When I heard it was based on a true story, it just seemed obvious that this should be a film about that."
Goldsmith, an accomplished filmmaker and cinematographer, is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers and has produced several documentaries. His credits include Two Days in October and Don't Say Goodbye. He was also the cinematographer on the Academy Award-winning documentary When We Were Kings. He has worked on two other films about Native American history, which were screened on local PBS stations. For his third he focused on the captivating story of Juana Maria.
Juana Maria was the last surviving member of the Nicoleño tribe. According to the California Missions Resource Center, the inhabitants of the Channel Islands were evacuated due to dwindling populations and resources in the 1830s. There were stories that Juana Maria had begged to stay back to find her lost son, but Goldsmith said the exact circumstances are unclear.
"There was a report that she was left behind, but it wasn't clear why," Goldsmith said. "About 20 years later, the story started to emerge that she had left her child behind and she had leapt off the boat and swam ashore. That sort of seems unlikely, because who leaves their child behind? But who knows."
Goldsmith said the crew of the ship that went to San Nicolas planned to go back and pick up the young woman but first had to make a trip to San Francisco for lumber. While there, it sank. Since there was no other available ship big enough to make the difficult trip to San Nicolas Island, she remained there, with many assuming she had died.
"The story became almost a myth," Goldsmith said. "It would have pretty much disappeared if it hadn't been for this children's book. That made the story famous, but it also got anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians interested and they started to investigate."
Goldsmith backpacked through the terrain of San Nicolas island, seeking to follow in Juana Maria's footsteps and explore that world for his film. She eventually left the island with explorer and sailor George Nidever and journeyed to Santa Barbara. Goldsmith said she was treated well by the community during an unwelcoming time when there was a bounty on Native Americans.
Sadly, she died less than seven weeks after leaving the island. Goldsmith said it's hard to pinpoint what her cause of death was, but it was likely had to do with her longtime isolation and sudden exposure to a number of environmental and other conditions.
Goldsmith said one of his goals was to ensure that school children in California have an opportunity to see the film, especially fourth graders who read O'Dell's book. He said during his research, he met numerous women who told him they became anthropologists after reading the book as a child.
Kristina Foss, Mission Santa Barbara Museum director, is featured in the documentary. Foss said not much has changed on the island since the days when Juana Maria lived there alone.
"The remarkable isolation of San Nicolas Island means that Juana Maria's world is still there," Foss said, "untouched and unchanged."
Arts and Lifestyle Writer Rebecca Rose is a lone soul. Contact her at [email protected].