October 21, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 166 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE RETURN OF THE REMAINDER OF THE TULUWAT TO THE WIYOT TRIBE

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                           HON. JARED HUFFMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 21, 2019

  Mr. HUFFMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the long-
awaited return of the remainder of Tuluwat to the Wiyot Tribe. This 
transfer of land from the City of Eureka is an exceptional gesture that 
recognizes the sacredness of the island to the tribe, which considers 
it the center of the universe.
  Also known as Indian Island, the 280-acre island was home to the 
Wiyot people, which held its annual World Renewal Ceremony there for 
many hundreds of years. In the winter of 1860, white settlers 
coordinated attacks on Wiyot women, children, and elders while the men 
were away. As many as 250 unarmed Wiyot people were massacred. Indian 
Island was later diked and drained and a boatyard and lumber mills were 
built there, leaving behind a toxic legacy.
  In 2000, the Wiyot Tribe purchased a 1.5-acre parcel of the island. 
Four years later, the City of Eureka transferred 67 acres to the tribe. 
In 2014, the Wiyot Tribe restored the World Renewal Ceremony to that 
part of the island. In December 2018, the Eureka City Council voted to 
repatriate the rest of its land on Tuluwat to the Wiyot Tribe. The 
Wiyot Tribe has worked for years to clean up toxins on the island, as 
well as to protect shell middens and other important sites and 
resources from erosion.
  The Wiyot Tribe will continue to use the site for ceremonies, 
including at the Etpidolh Village site, and work to remove invasive 
Spartina densiflora on the island's wetlands.
  Madam Speaker, the repatriation of Tuluwat from the City of Eureka to 
the Wiyot Tribe has profound importance to the Wiyot people, whose 
ancestors suffered greatly during the early white settlement of the 
region. I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing this historic 
agreement that continues to try to heal the harms of the past.

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