Rattlesnake Island (Clear Lake)

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For other places with the same name, see Rattlesnake Island.

Rattlesnake Island is an island located on Clear Lake in Lake County, northern California. Its area is 58 acres, and it is 150 feet offshore from the north shore of the south arm of Clear Lake.

There is evidence of habitation by Native Americans for over 11,000 years, although little archaeological work has been conducted. This site is connected with the prehistoric Post Pattern. The island has probably been used by the Southeastern Pomo for 4,000 to 8,000 years, and probably longer. The Southeastern Pomo, one of the oldest native tribes in America, consider the island their place of origin. Rattlesnake Island is currently a political and religious center of the Elem Community of Southeastern Pomo.

Due to an improper 1949 U.S. court decision, the Pomo tribe lost 80,000 acres of its ancestral land to the Bureau of Indian Affairs -- which sold off most of the land to private parties. At present, the island is owned by wealthy Bay Area businessman John Nady (founder of Nady Systems Inc.)[1]. His 2003 attempt to construct a summer cabin on the island brought an outcry from the Elem Nation Pomo elders. They are presently petitioning the federal government to add the island to the National Register of Historical Places. Nady has placed the island on the real-estate market for $2.5 million, due to negative publicity brought about by the controversy.