Tuluwat Island (formerly Indian Island or Gunther Island) is located on
Humboldt Bay within the city of
Eureka, California
Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt Ba ...
. The
1860 Wiyot Massacre
The Wiyot massacre refers to the incidents on February 26, 1860, at Tuluwat (on what is also known as Indian Island), near Eureka in Humboldt County, California. In coordinated attacks beginning at about 6 am, White settlers murdered 80 to 250 W ...
was perpetrated in the village of Tolowot or Tuluwat on this island. A
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
encompasses the
midden at Gunther Island Site 67. Since October 21, 2019, the Wiyot people have had the land deed to most of the Island.
Geography
The island is the largest of three islands located between the Samoa and Eureka Channels within
Humboldt Bay and primarily consists of tidal marsh. Over time, human habitation on the island changed its topography, in part due to a process known as shell mounding, which increased the elevation of the island as Wiyot continually placed shells remaining from subsistence fishery management in the same location over a period of centuries.
The current island is about with about to the north-east of
California State Route 255 and the rest to the south-west.
History
Early history
The indigenous
Wiyot lived in Tolowot village on Duluwat Island long enough to alter the topography by the accumulation of shell fragments in
middens, and the island became tall enough to be visible on the horizon from several miles away.
A non-degree student and employee of the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
, Llewellyn Lemont Loud (1879-1946),
conducted archaeological excavations of the island in 1918 that showed evidence of habitation since around 900 CE. The group of artifacts he excavated and described became known as the Gunther Pattern or Gunther Phase
which encompasses the final phase of native dominance lasting until historic times and describes a style of
Native American projectile point
In North American archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a javelin, dart, or arrow. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have ...
s,
grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.
They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...
and other archaeological remains which identify a second migration within California around 300 CE.
The first major evidence of this came from Gunther Island Site 67 on Indian Island.
1860 massacre
On February 26, 1860, about two hundred
Wiyot people, mainly women and children, were massacred while most of the men were away during a World Renewal Ceremony. The massacre was carried out by European immigrants, who had settled in the area since 1850 as part of the
California Gold Rush. There were few survivors.
European settlement
Robert Gunther acquired the island in 1860, three days before the massacre, giving it the name it had for much of recent history. Gunther diked the island and ran dairy cattle there for nearly 40 years.
In the 1870s a shipyard repair facility was constructed. The shipyard operated until the 1980s.
Modern era
In 1971
Caltrans built a series of bridges (known collectively as the
Samoa Bridge
State Route 255 (SR 255) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is a loop route of U.S. Route 101 in Humboldt County that runs through the Samoa Peninsula on the western side of Humboldt Bay.
Route description
It is a wester ...
), which cross Humboldt Bay and now directly connect the city of Eureka with the peninsula. Two of these bridges have footings on Tuluwat Island.
Every year since 1992, the Wiyot people and supporters come to the island on the last Saturday in February to heal the community, and remember the human lives lost at the time of the Massacre. Every year participation has increased at the vigil on a nearby island.
In June 2004, of land was repatriated back into Wiyot hands. The city of
Eureka, California
Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt Ba ...
, transferred the area towards the Wiyot's goal to see the Wiyot dance the World Renewal ceremony again on the island.
The city of Eureka and the Wiyot Tribe have installed a temporary erosion control system to mitigate erosion on the site.
Contamination from the shipyard activities will need to be cleaned up prior to the development of a new Wiyot dance facility.
On December 5, 2018, the Eureka City Council voted unanimously to return the rest of the land to the Wiyot people. On October 21, 2019, the city deeded all its land on the island to the Wiyot people, which means that the Wiyot own most of the island. Duluwat Island's repatriation is believed to be the first time for a U.S. municipality to return land to an Indigenous community without strings attached.
References
External links
The Indian Island Cultural and Environmental Restoration Project
Additional references
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Islands of California
Islands of Humboldt County, California
Wiyot tribe
Bald Hills War
Eureka, California
History of Humboldt County, California
Native American history of California
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in California
Islands of Northern California
National Register of Historic Places in Humboldt County, California