Who Are the Wiyot?
The Wiyot are an indigenous people of the Humboldt Bay region in northwestern California, with approximately 600 enrolled members in the Wiyot Tribe (federally recognized). They speak Wiyot, an Algic language related to Yurok and more distantly to eastern Algonquian languages—now extinct as a first language (the last fluent speaker, Della Prince, died in 1962). The Wiyot traditionally inhabited Humboldt Bay, the Eel River delta, and adjacent Pacific Coast—one of California's richest estuarine environments. Their history is marked by the Indian Island Massacre (1860), when settlers murdered perhaps 80-250 Wiyot during their World Renewal ceremony—a crime that shaped regional history.
Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay provided extraordinary abundance. The bay's mudflats teemed with clams and other shellfish; its waters supported salmon, sturgeon, and other fish. Sea lions, seals, and waterfowl were harvested. The Eel River, California's third-largest, offered additional salmon runs. Surrounding lands provided acorns, berries, and game. Wiyot villages ringed the bay, each maintaining territories and resource rights. Tuluwat (Indian Island), a sacred site in Humboldt Bay, hosted the annual World Renewal ceremony that renewed cosmic balance. This ceremony, bringing together Wiyot from throughout the region, would become the site of catastrophe.
The Indian Island Massacre
On February 26, 1860, during the World Renewal ceremony, settlers attacked Wiyot gathered on Indian Island. While men were away gathering supplies, attackers killed women, children, and elders—using hatchets and axes to avoid alerting residents of nearby Eureka. Estimates of dead range from 80 to 250. Simultaneous attacks targeted other Wiyot villages. Young Bret Harte, working for a local newspaper, published an editorial condemning the massacre—and was forced to leave town. Perpetrators were never prosecuted despite being known. The massacre decimated Wiyot population and traumatized survivors. For 160 years, the tribe sought return of Tuluwat Island.
Contemporary Wiyot
Modern Wiyot experience remarkable resurgence. In 2019, the City of Eureka returned the Indian Island to the Wiyot Tribe—the first time a US municipality voluntarily returned land to a tribe. The tribe has conducted environmental restoration on the island, removing invasive species and preparing for ceremony revival. Language documentation preserves Della Prince's recordings; revitalization efforts work with limited materials. The Table Bluff Reservation serves as tribal headquarters; economic development remains challenging. In 2022, the Wiyot held their first World Renewal ceremony on Tuluwat in 163 years. How the Wiyot heal from historical trauma while reclaiming land and ceremony shapes this small but resilient people's future on Humboldt Bay.
References
- Loud, L. L. (1918). Ethnogeography and Archaeology of the Wiyot Territory
- Madley, B. (2016). An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873
- Wiyot Tribe. (2019). \"Tuluwat Island Return\" (Tribal communications)