On the cusp of the Wiyot Tribe’s first World Renewal Ceremony since the last one, in February 1860, was cut short after white settlers massacred as many as 100 tribe members as they slept on Indian Island, the City of Eureka has voted to send the tribe an official letter of … well, it started out as “apology” but later morphed into “support.”
Apparently, in the hours before the draft letter went to a vote before the council last night, legal eyes latched onto the first draft and spotted language that some council members told the Times-Standard presented potential liability concerns.
Some of the language eviscerated from the first draft (sent to the press on Monday) includes “citizens of Eureka participated in” and “massacre” and “formal apology” and “forever be a scar on our history.” The new draft, sent to the press Tuesday and voted in as the final version Tuesday night, is a somewhat stranded piece of work, afloat in oddly minimalist bureaucratese with no mention of who attacked the Wiyot nor of anyone’s being sorry for it. Check them out yourself:
Draft No. 1:
Draft No. 2:
It’s a dramatic change, and we’re not yet sure how necessary it was. That said, the sincere feelings that presumably drove the drafting of the letter in the first place likely remain in certain civic hearts. And the support mentioned in the second draft will have to suffice, as the Wiyot embark on the next, momentous chapter of their story: Next week, beginning Friday, they will indeed dance again on Indian Island, as well as at other sites where their ancestors lived (and were massacred).
A note about that: Contrary to what has been reported elsewhere, this year’s World Renewal Ceremony is not necessarily intended “to finish” that interrupted 1860 ceremony, say tribe members.
“It ended in 1860,” Seidner says. “Whether it was completed or not, it’s gone. We can’t pick it up because we can’t know what they were doing 154 years ago. … So now we are going to start afresh.”
With tradition resumed, the tribe plans to hold the ceremony every year hence, just as it used to before the massacre.
To read more about the tribe’s journey to this moment, see this week’s cover story in the North Coast Journal — on the street today and online tomorrow. You can also watch a video on our site of Wiyot and other folks hooking eels at the mouth of the Eel River, and see a slideshow of the cleanup at Tuluwat, on Indian Island, where 120-plus years of post-Wiyot use left a torn-up, toxic-waste dump.
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This article appears in The GPU.
Arkley must be stopped..!!!!
For more than 150 years one tragic event has dominated the history of Native and foreigner relationships in Humboldt County.
The massacre of the WIYOT PEOPLES
On the night of 26 Feb 1860, a small group of settlers crossed sunbelt bay to avoid drawing attention from the nearby Eureka residents, the bulk of whom may not have condoned the killings , carried out primarily with hatchets clubs and knives.
The village of Tolowot or Tuluwat on Duluwat Island was the site of the spiritual if not the political center of the Wiyot people.
The had lived there for such a long time that they changed the topography , in part due to the process known as shell mounding.
They had survived from subsistence fishery management in the same location for
at least 9000 years.
Arcatas local news paper the `northern Californian, described the carnage that followed.
`Blood stood in pools on all sides; the walls of the huts were stained and the grass coloured red. Lying around were dead bodies of both sexes and all ages from the old man to the infant at the breast.
`Some had their heads SPLIT IN TWAIN by axes, others beaten into jelly with clubs, others pierced or cut to pieces with bowie knives. Some had almost reached the water when overtaken and butchered.
The vigilantes who called themselves the Humboldt Volunteers, second Brigade, had been formed in early February 1860 and had vowed to;
kill every peaceable Indian-man-women-and child.
About 150 peaceful Natives died that night. Almost all were women and children, as the men had left for Harvesting elsewhere.
They and Many others from the Wiyot tribe who were LIVING in different locations
were also slaughtered that week.
The Humboldt times reported
`The law works beautifully.. We hear of many others who are having them bound to suit.
A Boston Transcript correspondent visited Humboldt and described Indians
`being hunted for their children..
Mr. Hanson reported that Kidnapping of Indians had become `
`quite a business of profit , and I have no doubt is the foundation of the so-called Indian wars.
Thus began the Genocide in Humboldt and the sanctioning of the native slave trade,
an operation funded by the federal government and implemented by the
Humboldt court under Indian affairs officer George Hanson.
Mercifully in the following year Hanson was replaced by superintendent Austin Wiley the former editor of the Humboldt times, and
the Us army started to alter its genocidal policies.
The Hoopa Valley In dian Reservation was established.
Such investigations may be painful, but in the context of genocide, recording deaths also dignifies the slain and gives voice to the departed.
Can there be any question on who the Island belongs too.?
Yeah,i agree ,but why doesnt ted hernandez,his wife rose,his council,hazel garcia,stoled 10,000 dollars from wiyot tribe,embezzelment,falsifying federal documents,several violations of code of ethics,michelle vassel,heather blevins,brian mead,fawn lopez,vanessa rios,all lied on federal documents, covered up horrible crimes against wiyot tribe elders,wiyot tribe kids and babies,disabled people,the people started to gather and protest and file petition,which ted hernandez and his family and his council and staff also wronged and disrespected to tribe and all its governing documents. These people feel they dont have to listen or answer to the people.now they will make us go to federal court,now someone has to go to jail.i like constitution,and penal code,and tribal constitution.and i like these smart people.obviously not to smart,not smart enough to learn from mistakes and be humble and hold themselves accountable,they would rather just lie for each other,but we know how it goes when lieing,crumble crumble,too bad you involved others,and taught your kids to lie. And put it all on paper,with your signatures,step3,see ya soon.have a good day.bye bye bongio,but it isnt gonna straighten out any corruption or lies.we will do the same later,no matter what you think you can do,it can also be undone.