Wiyot people
Encyclopedia
The Wiyot people are a native people of the Humboldt Bay
, California
and nearby environs.
roots; Wiyot and Yurok are distantly related to the Algonquian languages
. Their traditional homeland ranged from Mad River
through Humboldt Bay (including the present cities of Eureka
and Arcata
) to the lower Eel river
basin. Inland, their territory was heavily forested in ancient redwood. Their stretch of shoreland was mostly sandy, dunes and tidal marsh.
The Wiyots were among the last natives in the United States to encounter white settlers. Spanish missions extended only as far north as San Francisco Bay
. The Russia
n fur
traders, whose 18th-century invasion in search of the sea otter
had devastated the Pomo
, were uninterested in their sandy shorelands, which was not a sea-otter habitat. The way of life of the Wiyot people, after many centuries of isolated development was forever changed, if not completely destroyed as a result of settlement by Europeans, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, particularly after the Mexican-American War.
Humboldt Bay was finally discovered by outsiders by the seafaring exploration of Douglass Ottinger in 1850. White settlement followed immediately. A military post called Fort Humboldt was founded February 9, 1853. Among the miners, farmers, ranchers and loggers pouring into California, many settled at what is now Eureka. Relationships between the local non-natives and Indians became hostile, marked by raids and vigilante justice.
" (also known as Gunther Island
)about a mile and a half offshore from Eureka in Humboldt Bay. The leader of the Humboldt Bay Wiyots was Captain Jim. He organized and led the ceremony to start a new year.
A group of Eureka men came to the island in the early morning after the last ceremony was completed. They were armed with hatchets, clubs and knives. They left their guns behind so the noise of the slaughter would be only screams rather than gunshots. This was not the only massacre that took place that night. Two other village sites were raided, on the Eel River and on the South Spit. Reports of the number of Wiyots killed that night vary from 80 to 200; they were mostly women and children, who were apart from the men conducting ceremonies. There was one survivor of the massacred group on Tutulwat, an infant called Jerry James.
The 1860 massacre was well documented historically and was reported in San Francisco and New York
by a young American writer who would later use the pen name Bret Harte
. Harte was working as a printer's helper and assistant editor at a local newspaper at the time, and his boss was temporarily absent, leaving Harte in charge of the paper. Harte published a detailed account condemning the event, writing, "a more shocking and revolting spectacle never was exhibited to the eyes of a Christian and civilized people. Old women wrinkled and decrepit lay weltering in blood, their brains dashed out and dabbled with their long grey hair. Infants scarcely a span along, with their faces cloven with hatchets and their bodies ghastly with wounds."
Major Gabriel J. Rains
(sometimes spelled "Raines") reported on the massacre to his superiors. He found that around 5 men had formed a volunteer squad to murder the sleeping women and children on the island. In his army reports, appalled at the massacres and at the openly discussed aims of the local white settlers to kill the Wiyot, he stated there were 55 killed at Indian Island, 40 on South Fork Eel River, and 35 at Eagle Prairie.
Meanwhile, the Humboldt Times newspaper editorialized, "For the past four years we have advocated two—and only two—alternatives for ridding our country of Indians: either remove them to some reservation or kill them. The loss of life and destruction of property by the Indians for ten years past has not failed to convince every sensitive man that the two races cannot live together, and the recent desperate and bloody demonstrations on Indian Island and elsewhere is proof that the time has arrived that either the pale face or the savage must yield the ground."
The Times apparently represented the mainstream opinion in the area at the time. An investigation failed to identify a single perpetrator, although those who did the killing were rumored to be well known. Harte quit his job one month later and moved to San Francisco, where an anonymous letter published in a city paper is attributed to him, describing widespread community approval of the massacre.
The Wiyot people were decimated. They were corralled at Fort Humboldt for protection. Survivors were herded mostly to Round Valley, established as an Indian reservation
within California. They kept escaping and returning to their homeland.
, slavery
, target practice, protection, being herded from place to place (survivors' descendants describe this as "death marches"), and massacres.
Memorials have been held annually at Tuluwat village, on what is now known as Indian Island, since 1992; and a major cultural and environmental restoration project is underway there.
between Loleta and the South Jetty of Humboldt Bay. Some 350 people are enrolled in the Table Bluff Reservation—Wiyot Tribe. "Table Bluff Rancheria of Wiyot Indians of California" is the name under which the United States
federal government
previously listed the Table Bluff Reservation in the Bureau of Indian Affairs
list of federally recognized tribes; "Table Bluff Reservation- Wiyot Tribe" is the current designation. "Table Bluff Reservation- Wiyot Tribe" is the current designation (Department of the Interior 2005). Some people of Wiyot descent are enrolled in the Bear River Rancheria. See also: Table Bluff Rancheria, California
's last native speaker, Della Prince, died in 1962. Some Wiyots are attempting a revival of the language.
A central act in the Wiyot people's spirituality is an annual World Renewal Ceremony held at Tuluwat village. Indian Island, formerly called Duluwat Island, was and is the center of Wiyot world. On the island a ceremonial dance was held to start the new year. The ceremony was called the World Renewal ceremony. All people were welcomed, no one was turned away. The ceremony lasted seven to ten days. It was held at the village site of Tutulwat on the northern part of the island. Traditionally the men would leave the island and return the next day with the day's supplies. The elders, women and children were left to rest on the island along with a few men.
The people ate mostly clams and acorn
s and made long carved log canoe
s. Healers and ceremonial leaders were mostly women, who got their powers on mountain tops at night.
put the 1770 population of the Wiyot at 1,000. Sherburne F. Cook
initially offered an estimate of 1,500 but subsequently raised this to 3,300. Kroeber reported the population of the Wiyot in 1910 as 100.
The Wiyot suffered a devastating onslaught of violence by American settlers in the 1850s and 1860s, wiping out the majority of those alive in 1850 and dispossessing them of their lands. Surviving members of the tribe intermarried with neighboring groups, including the Yurok
. About 500 Wiyot live in Northern California today, still well below their mid-19th century population of 2,000.
The tribal chairwoman who headed the negotiations for years and eventually succeeded, Cheryl Seidner, is a descendant of an ancestor who survived the 1860 massacre as an infant. Tuluwat, the sacred Wiyot village of Indian Island, is currently being restored by the Wiyot tribe. Eureka businesses have stepped forward to donate supplies and trash barges, and the citizens of Eureka have donated to a Tuluwat restoration fund.
Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, United States entirely within Humboldt County. The regional center and county seat of Eureka and the college town of Arcata adjoin the bay, which is the second largest enclosed...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and nearby environs.
History
The Wiyot and Yurok are the farthest southwest people whose language has AlgicAlgic languages
The Algic languages are an indigenous language family of North America. Most Algic languages belong to the Algonquian family, dispersed over a broad area from the Rocky Mountains to Atlantic Canada...
roots; Wiyot and Yurok are distantly related to the Algonquian languages
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
. Their traditional homeland ranged from Mad River
Mad River (California)
The Mad River is a river in upper Northern California. It flows for in a roughly northwest direction through Trinity County and then Humboldt County, draining a watershed into the Pacific Ocean north of the college town of Arcata near Arcata-Eureka Airport in McKinleyville...
through Humboldt Bay (including the present cities of Eureka
Eureka, California
Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
and Arcata
Arcata, California
-Demographics:-2010 Census data:The 2010 United States Census reported that Arcata had a population of 17,231. The population density was 1,567.4 people per square mile...
) to the lower Eel river
Eel River (California)
The Eel River is a major river system of the northern Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. Approximately 200 miles long, it drains a rugged area in the California Coast Ranges between the Sacramento Valley and the ocean. For most of its course, the river flows northwest, parallel to the...
basin. Inland, their territory was heavily forested in ancient redwood. Their stretch of shoreland was mostly sandy, dunes and tidal marsh.
The Wiyots were among the last natives in the United States to encounter white settlers. Spanish missions extended only as far north as San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. The Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n fur
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
traders, whose 18th-century invasion in search of the sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
had devastated the Pomo
Pomo people
The Pomo people are an indigenous peoples of California. The historic Pomo territory in northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point...
, were uninterested in their sandy shorelands, which was not a sea-otter habitat. The way of life of the Wiyot people, after many centuries of isolated development was forever changed, if not completely destroyed as a result of settlement by Europeans, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, particularly after the Mexican-American War.
Humboldt Bay was finally discovered by outsiders by the seafaring exploration of Douglass Ottinger in 1850. White settlement followed immediately. A military post called Fort Humboldt was founded February 9, 1853. Among the miners, farmers, ranchers and loggers pouring into California, many settled at what is now Eureka. Relationships between the local non-natives and Indians became hostile, marked by raids and vigilante justice.
Massacre
On February 25, 1860, the Wiyot experienced a tragic massacre which devastated their numbers and has remained a pervasive part of their cultural heritage and identity. World Renewal ceremonies were being held at the village of Tutulwat, on "Indian IslandIndian Island (Humboldt Bay)
Indian Island or Duluwat Island is located on Humboldt Bay within the City of Eureka, California. The village of Tolowot or Tuluwat on Duluwat Island was the site of the spiritual if not political center of the Wiyot people and is where the main thrust of the 1860 Wiyot Massacre by European...
" (also known as Gunther Island
)about a mile and a half offshore from Eureka in Humboldt Bay. The leader of the Humboldt Bay Wiyots was Captain Jim. He organized and led the ceremony to start a new year.
A group of Eureka men came to the island in the early morning after the last ceremony was completed. They were armed with hatchets, clubs and knives. They left their guns behind so the noise of the slaughter would be only screams rather than gunshots. This was not the only massacre that took place that night. Two other village sites were raided, on the Eel River and on the South Spit. Reports of the number of Wiyots killed that night vary from 80 to 200; they were mostly women and children, who were apart from the men conducting ceremonies. There was one survivor of the massacred group on Tutulwat, an infant called Jerry James.
The 1860 massacre was well documented historically and was reported in San Francisco and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
by a young American writer who would later use the pen name Bret Harte
Bret Harte
Francis Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California.- Life and career :...
. Harte was working as a printer's helper and assistant editor at a local newspaper at the time, and his boss was temporarily absent, leaving Harte in charge of the paper. Harte published a detailed account condemning the event, writing, "a more shocking and revolting spectacle never was exhibited to the eyes of a Christian and civilized people. Old women wrinkled and decrepit lay weltering in blood, their brains dashed out and dabbled with their long grey hair. Infants scarcely a span along, with their faces cloven with hatchets and their bodies ghastly with wounds."
Major Gabriel J. Rains
Gabriel J. Rains
Gabriel James Rains was a career United States Army officer and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
(sometimes spelled "Raines") reported on the massacre to his superiors. He found that around 5 men had formed a volunteer squad to murder the sleeping women and children on the island. In his army reports, appalled at the massacres and at the openly discussed aims of the local white settlers to kill the Wiyot, he stated there were 55 killed at Indian Island, 40 on South Fork Eel River, and 35 at Eagle Prairie.
Meanwhile, the Humboldt Times newspaper editorialized, "For the past four years we have advocated two—and only two—alternatives for ridding our country of Indians: either remove them to some reservation or kill them. The loss of life and destruction of property by the Indians for ten years past has not failed to convince every sensitive man that the two races cannot live together, and the recent desperate and bloody demonstrations on Indian Island and elsewhere is proof that the time has arrived that either the pale face or the savage must yield the ground."
The Times apparently represented the mainstream opinion in the area at the time. An investigation failed to identify a single perpetrator, although those who did the killing were rumored to be well known. Harte quit his job one month later and moved to San Francisco, where an anonymous letter published in a city paper is attributed to him, describing widespread community approval of the massacre.
The Wiyot people were decimated. They were corralled at Fort Humboldt for protection. Survivors were herded mostly to Round Valley, established as an Indian reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
within California. They kept escaping and returning to their homeland.
Population decline
By 1850, there were about 2000 Wiyot and Karok people living within this area. After 1860, there was an estimated 200 people left. By 1910 there were fewer than 100 full blood Wiyot people living within Wiyot territory. This rapid decline in population was from diseaseDisease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
, slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, target practice, protection, being herded from place to place (survivors' descendants describe this as "death marches"), and massacres.
Memorials have been held annually at Tuluwat village, on what is now known as Indian Island, since 1992; and a major cultural and environmental restoration project is underway there.
Reservation
In 2000, the Wiyot established the Table Bluff Reservation on 88 acres (356,123.7 m²) of their homeland. The reservation is 16 miles (25.7 km) south of EurekaEureka, California
Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
between Loleta and the South Jetty of Humboldt Bay. Some 350 people are enrolled in the Table Bluff Reservation—Wiyot Tribe. "Table Bluff Rancheria of Wiyot Indians of California" is the name under which the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
federal government
Federal government
The federal government is the common government of a federation. The structure of federal governments varies from institution to institution. Based on a broad definition of a basic federal political system, there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and...
previously listed the Table Bluff Reservation in the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
list of federally recognized tribes; "Table Bluff Reservation- Wiyot Tribe" is the current designation. "Table Bluff Reservation- Wiyot Tribe" is the current designation (Department of the Interior 2005). Some people of Wiyot descent are enrolled in the Bear River Rancheria. See also: Table Bluff Rancheria, California
Table Bluff Rancheria, California
Table Bluff Rancheria is a locality in Humboldt County, California. It lies at an elevation of . The land is also known as the "Old Reservation" for the Wiyot....
Culture and religion
The Wiyot languageWiyot language
Wiyot is an extinct Algic language, formerly spoken by the Wiyot people of Humboldt Bay, California. The language's last native speaker, Della Prince, died in 1962...
's last native speaker, Della Prince, died in 1962. Some Wiyots are attempting a revival of the language.
A central act in the Wiyot people's spirituality is an annual World Renewal Ceremony held at Tuluwat village. Indian Island, formerly called Duluwat Island, was and is the center of Wiyot world. On the island a ceremonial dance was held to start the new year. The ceremony was called the World Renewal ceremony. All people were welcomed, no one was turned away. The ceremony lasted seven to ten days. It was held at the village site of Tutulwat on the northern part of the island. Traditionally the men would leave the island and return the next day with the day's supplies. The elders, women and children were left to rest on the island along with a few men.
The people ate mostly clams and acorn
Acorn
The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...
s and made long carved log canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
s. Healers and ceremonial leaders were mostly women, who got their powers on mountain tops at night.
Population
Alfred L. KroeberAlfred L. Kroeber
Alfred Louis Kroeber was an American anthropologist. He was the first professor appointed to the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and played an integral role in the early days of its Museum of Anthropology, where he served as director from 1909 through...
put the 1770 population of the Wiyot at 1,000. Sherburne F. Cook
Sherburne F. Cook
Sherburne Friend Cook was a physiologist by training, and served as professor and chairman of the department of physiology at the University of California, Berkeley...
initially offered an estimate of 1,500 but subsequently raised this to 3,300. Kroeber reported the population of the Wiyot in 1910 as 100.
The Wiyot suffered a devastating onslaught of violence by American settlers in the 1850s and 1860s, wiping out the majority of those alive in 1850 and dispossessing them of their lands. Surviving members of the tribe intermarried with neighboring groups, including the Yurok
Yurok tribe
The Yurok, whose name means "downriver people" in the neighboring Karuk language, are Native Americans who live in northwestern California near the Klamath River and Pacific coast...
. About 500 Wiyot live in Northern California today, still well below their mid-19th century population of 2,000.
Recent events
In a step towards making amends, in June 2004 the Eureka City Council transferred 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) of Indian Island back to the Wiyot tribe, to add to 1.5 acres (6,070.3 m²) the Wiyot had purchased.. The council also transferred 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) on the northeast tip of the 275 acres (1.1 km²) island on May 18, 2006.The tribal chairwoman who headed the negotiations for years and eventually succeeded, Cheryl Seidner, is a descendant of an ancestor who survived the 1860 massacre as an infant. Tuluwat, the sacred Wiyot village of Indian Island, is currently being restored by the Wiyot tribe. Eureka businesses have stepped forward to donate supplies and trash barges, and the citizens of Eureka have donated to a Tuluwat restoration fund.
See also
- Wiyot languageWiyot languageWiyot is an extinct Algic language, formerly spoken by the Wiyot people of Humboldt Bay, California. The language's last native speaker, Della Prince, died in 1962...
- Indian IslandIndian Island (Humboldt Bay)Indian Island or Duluwat Island is located on Humboldt Bay within the City of Eureka, California. The village of Tolowot or Tuluwat on Duluwat Island was the site of the spiritual if not political center of the Wiyot people and is where the main thrust of the 1860 Wiyot Massacre by European...
- Wiyot traditional narrativesWiyot traditional narrativesWiyot traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Wiyot people of the Humboldt Bay area of northwestern California....
External links
- Wiyot Tribe homepage
- SF Chronicle article on Wiyot and Duluwat Island
- NorCal History Blog Lengthy quotes from Major Rains' letters on the massacres and their aftermath.