Where is Karana of “Island of the Blue Dolphins” buried?
The Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island, the subject of the book “Island of the Blue Dolphins,” is buried somewhere in the cemetery. Graves were not marked in the Spanish era and only came into fashion in the American period. So no one put a marker on the grave of the girl left alone for 18 years on San Nicholas Island. We have a plaque dedicated to her on the tower wall near the cemetery exit. She was baptized Juana Maria after her rescue, but author Scott O’Dell made up the name Karana for his fictionalized account of her life which is read by most California school children.
