Indian Island Eureka, California

EUREKA, CALIF.-- Members of the Wiyot tribe will ride canoes in late March 2014 to Indian Island in Humboldt Bay to ceremoniously complete a cycle which began in 1860 after a massacre nearly wiped out their tribe (an estimated 500 Wiyot remain today.) A world renewal ceremony is intended to finish business that has remained an issue to generations who have only heard about their ancestors through stories shared by relatives, or found in newspapers and books. The public won't be able to attend the event on the very small island that belongs to natives, though it may be visible from neighboring Woodley Island in Eureka.

With hopes for lêtik (warm days) the Wiyot people wear ceremonial attire as they bring closure to the symbolic wounds during a three day ceremony that begins March 28th. The Wiyot tribe acquired sacred areas of the 275-acre marshy island expanse with assistance from the City of Eureka. In May of 2004, The Eureka City Council voted unanimously to return 40 acres shown in a photo of the mayor and a Wiyot tribe member signing documents that inked the deal and made Wiyot ownership of the small island official.

On the west end of Woodley Island at Indian Island an annual healing ceremony has taken place usually the last Saturday in February, rain or shine. A fire is lit and then candles symbolically from the first fire as prayer and song, poems and other tributes are performed. This World Renewal Ceremony offers the first step in efforts to restore to the island to a Wiyot tribal ground. Around 500 Wiyot people attend the annual Candelight Vigil.