The Wiyot people have stewarded the land in and around Humboldt Bay (Wigi) in Northern California, near the present-day city of Eureka, for thousands of years. Before the arrival of settler-colonists, they actively managed their resources. As Wiyot tribal chair Ted Hernandez says, “We understood our role as caretakers. We didn’t ‘own’ the land or the water. We were part of it.”

In the middle of Humboldt Bay lies Tuluwat Island (also known as “Indian Island”), the birthplace for the Wiyot people and the site of a historic shellmound. According to the Wiyot creation story, the people were created on the island. “It’s sacred because that is where we come from,” explains Cheryl Seidner, a former Wiyot tribal chair.

Tuluwat Island is also the site of the annual World Renewal Ceremony, performed by members of the Wiyot, Hupa, Yurok, Karuk, and Chilula tribal nations. The ceremony lasts seven to 10 days and aims to bring the world into balance.

From 1860 until 2014, that ceremony did not occur due to genocide and dispossession. But the Wiyot nation is still here. And, in recent years, a community partnership has emerged involving the Wiyot nation, Cooperation Humboldt (a nonprofit that supports cooperative development), and the broader community of Eureka and Humboldt County that promises a path towards healing. It has not been easy, and there remains considerable work to do, but we believe ours is a story worth sharing. 

Continue reading the article from Nonprofit Quarterly here.