Indian Island (Humboldt Bay)

Gunther Island Site 67
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
National Register of Historic Places marker on Woodley Island in foreground, Indian Island on other side of channel.
Location	Address restricted
Nearest city	Eureka, California
Coordinates
Area	6 acres (24,000 m2)
NRHP Reference #	66000208
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	July 19, 1964

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 settlers took place. It has also been called Gunther Island, and is the site of a National Historic Landmark which encompasses the midden at Gunther Island Site 67.

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.

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 Llewellyn Lemont Loud (1879-1946) conducted archaeological excavations of the island in 1918 that showed evidence of habitation since around 900 AD. 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 points, grave goods and other archaeological remains which identify a second migration within California around 300 AD. The first major evidence of this came from Gunther Island Site 67 on Indian Island.

1860 massacre

Main article: 1860 Wiyot Massacre

On February 26, 1860, about one hundred Wiyot men, women and children were massacred 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), which cross Humboldt Bay and now directly connect the city of Eureka with the peninsula. Two of these bridges have footings on Indian 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, 67 acres (270,000 m²) of land was repatriated back into Wiyot hands. The city of Eureka, California, 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 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.

External links

• The Indian Island Cultural and Environmental Restoration Project
• Map of Island