Image: Last Wiyot Vigil 2014

Description: Wiyot elders, tribal members and people holding candles around a firepit at the last Wiyot Vigil in memory of the massacre-interrupted World Renewal Ceremony in 1860 on Tuluwat, also called "Indian Island" and "Gunther Island." The Wiyots were nearly annihiliated but eventually regained federal recognition in the late 1950s and a portion of the island in the 2000s; in part by purchase and in part by an unprecedented return of land to the tribe from the city of Eureka. Finally after years of environmental cleanup, the tribe announced that this would be the last annual vigil because the World Renewal Ceremony would resume at the end of March 2014 for the first time in over 150 years. The grove of trees to the right over the heads of participants is on Tuluwat itself, the vigils were held for over 20 years at Woodley Island Marina adjacent to the National Historic Register Monument marker. The only available light for this hand held image was the firepit.
Title: Last Wiyot Vigil 2014
Credit: Own work
Author: Ellin Beltz
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Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
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