Gunther Island
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Gunther Island is located in the United States in Humboldt County, California. It is also known as National Historic Landmark 67 (National Register Number 66000208).
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[edit] History
The island is the largest of three islands located in the northern portion of Humboldt Bay and consisted of tidal marsh. Over time, human habitation on the island changed the topography of the island.[1]
[edit] First nation
The indigenous population of Wiyot people lived on Duluwat island (Gunther Island) in a village called Tutulwat. The Wiyot lived on this island for long enough to alter the topography, by the accumulation of shell fragments midden, and the island became tall enough to be visible on the horizon from several miles away.[2]
On February 26, 1860, durning a World Renewal ceremony, the population of Wiyot were decimated in a massacre on the island. The act of genocide by local European settlers remains a pervasive part of the Wiyot people's cultural heritage and identity.
The island was known as Bloody Island for a significant period of time because of the massacre.
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.
[edit] European settlement
Robert Gunther acquired the island in 1860, the same year of the massacre.[3]
In the 1870s a shipyard repair facility was constructed. The shipyard operated until the 1980s.[4]
L. L. Loud's 1918 archaeological excavation of the island showed evidence of inhabitation since around CE 900. Loud's discription of salient artifacts, (projectile points, burial accompaniments, etc.,) would later become known as the Gunther Pattern or Gunther Phase. The term is used to describe the final phase of native dominance lasting until historic times.[5]
After nearby European settlement, the island was diked.[6]
The island was designated a National Historic Landmark on July 19, 1964.
In 1971 Caltrans built a series of bridges, and one bridge has a footing in Gunther Island.
[edit] Post 2000
In June of 2004, 67 acres of land was repatriated back into Wiyot hands. The nearby city of Eureka, California transferred the acreage towards the Wiyot's goal to see the Wiyot dance the World Renewal ceremony again on the island.[7]
The City of Eureka and the Wiyot Tribe have installed temporary erosion control system to mitigate erosion on the site.[8]
Contamination from the shipyard activities will need to be cleaned up prior to the development of a new Wiyot dance facility.[9]
[edit] See also
The Indian Island Cultural and Environmental Restoration Project.[10]
