In 1860, non-native settlers in Humboldt Bay, California attacked and massacred nearly 200 indigenous Wiyot people in Tuluwat, an ancient and culturally significant village on Indian Island.

In the years following the massacre, settlers took ownership of the island and used it for agriculture and industry, including ship maintenance and leaving behind remnant marine debris. This includes a decrepit fishing shack, scrap metal once used in the ballast of ships, building debris, garbage, and a number of dock pilings.

The Wiyot Tribe bought back 1.5 acres of the historic village site in 2001, and in 2006, the city of Eureka returned 60 additional acres. In 2014, the Wiyot people, with the support from the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP), will remove the remaining marine debris from the site. To learn more about the marine debris removal project check-out the NOAA Marine Debris Program's recent blog post: Restoring Cultural Heritage at Indian Island.

For more information about this project, contact Sherry.Lippiatt@noaa.gov.

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