Wiyot Tribe

Last updated
Wiyot Tribe
Total population
600 enrolled members [1]
Regions with significant populations
Flag of the United States.svg  United States (Flag of California.svg  California)
Languages
English, formerly Wiyot [2]
Religion
traditional tribal religion [3]
Related ethnic groups
other Wiyot people, [4] Yurok people [3] [5]

The Wiyot Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Wiyot people. They are the aboriginal people of Humboldt Bay, Mad River and lower Eel River of California. [5] [6]

Contents

Other Wiyot people are enrolled in the Blue Lake Rancheria, Rohnerville Rancheria and Trinidad Rancherias. [1] [7]

Reservation

Location of Table Bluff Reservation 4095R Table Bluff Reservation Locator Map.svg
Location of Table Bluff Reservation

The Wiyot Tribe's land base includes two Reservations. Table Bluff Reservation and the Old Table Bluff Reservation are located 16 miles southwest of Eureka, California. [8] The new Table Bluff Reservation is 88-acres. [6] The Old Table Bluff Reservation was established in 1908, when a church donated 20 acres of land to the Wiyot Tribe. The land was allotted to individuals. The Reservation was formally recognized by the government in 1981 and 102 acres was purchased for the tribe. [5] The Reservation is located on Table Bluff in Humboldt County, California. It lies at an elevation of 236 feet (72 m). [9] The land is also known as the "Old Reservation" for the Wiyot. [10] As of the 2010 Census the population was 103. [11]

Government

The Wiyot Tribe is headquartered in Loleta, California. The tribe is governed by a democratically elected, seven-member tribal council. The current tribal administration is as follows:

Language

English is commonly spoken by the tribe. The Wiyot language belongs to the California branch of Algic languages. The language is written in the Latin script, and a dictionary and grammar has been published for Wiyot. [2] The last fluent speaker of Wiyot died in 1962. [5]

History

Indian Island, California Indian Island Tolowot California.jpg
Indian Island, California

Prior to European contact, Wiyot people numbered approximately 2,000. They first encountered Europeans in 1802. Non-native settlers overran Wiyote lands during the California Gold Rush that started in 1849. Wiyots were killed in the Rogue River Indian War in 1852. [3]

On 26 February 1860, as the Wiyote people were celebrating their world renewal ceremony, European-American people ambushed Wiyot elders, women, and children in the (Wiyot Massacre, now known as the Indian Island Massacre) on what is now Indian Island (previously Gunther Island). [13] The young men were off collecting supplies for the next day's ceremony leaving the village defenseless, allowing for a group of men from Eureka (who had been planning the massacre) to row across the bay carrying silent weapons (to avoid alarming the nearby city). When the men came back, their families were piled up leaving only one survivor, a hidden infant. Two other villages were massacred that night. Post massacre numbers were estimated to be around 200.[ citation needed ]

Notes

  1. 1 2 "History | Wiyot Tribe, CA" see "The Tribe Today"
  2. 1 2 "Wiyot." Ethnologue. Retrieved 29 Sept 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Pritzker 154
  4. ↑ Pritzker 261
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Wiyot." [Usurped!]Four Directions Institute. Retrieved 29 Sept 2013.
  6. 1 2 "The Wiyot Tribe." Archived 2013-10-02 at the Wayback Machine Humboldt State University. Retrieved 29 Sept 2013.
  7. ↑ Pritzker 155
  8. ↑ "Table Bluff Reservation—Wiyot Tribe." Archived 2013-05-21 at the Wayback Machine United Indian health Services. Retrieved 29 Sept 2013.
  9. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Table Bluff Rancheria
  10. ↑ Fraley, Briannon (2009). "Culture". Wiyot Tribe . Retrieved 2011-01-22.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ [ dead link ]
  12. ↑ "Council." Wiyot Tribe. Retrieved 29 Sept 2013.
  13. ↑ Melley, Brian (2022-01-27). "California museum returns massacre remains to Wiyot Tribe". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-01-28.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians</span> Indian tribe in Oregon, United States

The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon are a federally recognized Native American tribe of Hanis Coos, Miluk Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw people in Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hupa</span> Native American people in California

Hupa are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in northwestern California. Their endonym is Natinixwe, also spelled Natinook-wa, meaning "People of the Place Where the Trails Return". The Karuk name was Kishákeevar / Kishakeevra. The majority of the tribe is enrolled in the federally recognized Hoopa Valley Tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humboldt Bay</span> Bay on the North Coast of California

Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, entirely within Humboldt County, United States. It is the largest protected body of water on the West Coast between San Francisco Bay and Puget Sound, the second-largest enclosed bay in California, and the largest port between San Francisco and Coos Bay, Oregon. The largest city adjoining the bay is Eureka, the regional center and county seat of Humboldt County, followed by the city of Arcata. These primary cities, together with adjoining unincorporated communities and several small towns, comprise a Humboldt Bay Area with a total population of nearly 80,000 people. This comprises nearly 60% of the population of Humboldt County. The bay is home to more than 100 plant species, 300 invertebrate species, 100 fish species, and 200 bird species. In addition, the bay and its complex system of marshes and grasses support hundreds of thousands of migrating and local shore birds. Commercially, this second-largest estuary in California is the site of the largest oyster production operations on the West Coast, producing more than half of all oysters farmed in California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mattole</span> Indigenous people of California

The Mattole, including the Bear River Indians, are a group of Native Americans in California. Their traditional lands are along the Mattole and Bear Rivers near Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, California. A notable difference between the Mattole and other indigenous peoples of California is that the men traditionally had facial tattoos, while other local groups traditionally restricted facial tattooing to women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiyot</span> Indigenous people of California

The Wiyot are an indigenous people of California living near Humboldt Bay, California and a small surrounding area. They are culturally similar to the Yurok people. They called themselves simply Ku'wil, meaning "the People". Today, there are approximately 450 Wiyot people. They are enrolled in several federally recognized tribes, such as the Wiyot Tribe, Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, Blue Lake Rancheria, and the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loleta, California</span> Census-designated place in California, United States

Loleta is a census-designated place in Humboldt County, California. Loleta is located 5.5 miles (9 km) south of Fields Landing, and 15 miles (24 km) south of Eureka at an elevation of 46 feet (14 m). The population was 783 at the 2010 census. Residents live in a central community area and rural outskirts. There are two separate Native American reservations on the rural outskirts of Table Bluff, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yurok</span> Indigenous people in California, United States

The Yurok are an Indigenous people from along the Klamath River and Pacific coast, whose homelands are located in present-day California stretching from Trinidad in the south to Crescent City in the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Table Bluff (California)</span>

Table Bluff is a semi-flat terrace in Humboldt County, California, that terminates above the ocean in a dramatic, 165-foot (50 m) high cliff with views of the Eel River delta, the South Spit of Humboldt Bay, and the Pacific Ocean. It separates Humboldt Bay to the north from the Eel River to the south. It overlooks approximately 9,000 acres (36 km²) of wildlands administered by various federal and county agencies. It is 12 miles (19 km) south of Eureka and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west of US Highway 101. Table Bluff County Park provides access to the South Spit. The park is also used as a hang-gliding and paragliding staging area. The federally endangered western lily, Lilium occidentale, is found growing on Table Bluff at Table Bluff Ecological Reserve.

The Big Lagoon Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Yurok and Tolowa Indians. They are located in Humboldt County, California, and their tribal headquarters is in Arcata, California.

The Big Sandy Rancheria of Mono Indians of California is a ranchería and federally recognized tribe of Western Mono Indians (Monache) located in Fresno County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census the population was 118. In 1909, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) bought 280 acres of land for the Big Sandy Band of Western Mono Indians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Lake Rancheria</span> Indian reservation in California, United States

The Blue Lake Rancheria of the Wiyot, Yurok, and Hupa Indians is located northwest of the city of Blue Lake in Humboldt County, California on approximately 76 acres (0.31 km2). As of 2007, there were 53 enrolled members. As of the 2010 Census the population of Blue Lake Rancheria was 58.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria</span> Indian tribe in California, United States

The Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Mattole, Bear River and Wiyot people in Humboldt County, California.

Table Bluff is a locality in Humboldt County, California. It is located adjacent to the Pacific Ocean 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Fields Landing, at an elevation of 318 feet (97 m).

The Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Mono Native Americans. Cold Springs Rancheria is the tribe's reservation, which is located in Fresno County, California. As of the 2010 Census the population was 184.

The Table Mountain Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Native American people from the Chukchansi band of Yokuts and the Monache tribe. It is also the tribe's ranchería, located in Fresno County, California.

The Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, previously known as Smith River Rancheria, is a federally recognized tribe of Tolowa people in Del Norte County, California. They are Athabascan people, distantly related to northern Athabascans of eastern Alaska and western Canada, as well as the Apache and Navajo peoples of the American Southwest.

The Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe with members who are descendants of Chetco, Hupa, Karuk, Tolowa, Wiyot, and Yurok people in Humboldt County, California. As of the 2010 Census the population was 132.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenville Rancheria of Maidu Indians</span>

The Greenville Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Maidu people in Plumas and Tehama Counties, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians</span>

The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, or in their own language Nomlāqa Bōda, is a federally recognized tribe of Nomlaki people. The Nomlaki are Central Wintun, or River and Hill Nomlaki, an indigenous people of California, located in Tehama and Glenn counties.

References

40°41′02″N124°14′44″W / 40.68389°N 124.24556°W / 40.68389; -124.24556

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.