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Wiyot brush dancers performing ceremony.

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My community is the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria; this is my band. The Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria reservation is located in Loleta, California, and consists of over 600 Tribal Members.

The majority of tribal members are from the Mattole and Wiyot tribes; however, the Hoopa, Yurok and Tolowa tribes are present as well by way of marriage or interrelations.

The Tribe is federally recognized and owns and operates Bear River Casino Resort, Pump & Play, Bear River Tobacco Traders, Bear River Recreation Center, Bear River Family Entertainment Center, Tish-Non Housing and North & South Basayo Villages in Fortuna, CA.

Today, Bear River Band encourages the belief that “Working together as one toward common good will bring prosperity to all.”

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Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria sign.

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This is a traditional story told in Soulatuk, native language. An important part of Wiyot culture is language restoration, teaching the little ones how to embrace their culture.

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The Tribe was originally established in 1910 as a home for homeless, landless Native American Indians. In 1958, Rohnerville Rancheria was one of 44 tribes terminated by an act of Congress known as the California Rancheria Act. In 1983, the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, along with 16 other California tribes, regained its federal recognition status through a class-action lawsuit known as the Tillie-Hardwick case. While the United States granted federal recognition to our tribe as a result of the lawsuit, it did not provide the tribe with compensation for the land, resources, right and heritage/culture that was taken. Tribal chairpersons lobbied Congress to get funds set aside for the Tribe for many years.

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Due to the newness of the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria as a federally recognized Indian Tribe, services provided by the Tribe to its members are limited. It is the direction of the Tribe to secure grants to develop and expand programs such as education, health, social services, housing, employment, economic development and cultural rejuvenation.

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Members of the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria (Bear River) and State Parks at the MOU signing ceremony in Loleta, California, on October 30.

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Press release from California State Parks: 11/04/23

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Press release from California State Parks: 11/04/23

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California State Parks and the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria (Bear River) formalized their relationship earlier this week to cooperate on the protection, preservation, and interpretation of parks that lie within Bear River’s ancestral homelands in the North Coast Redwoods District of State Parks.

“We will work together to bring deep time cultural knowledge forward as we work to create a healthier future for the lands and cultures of this state,” said California State Parks Director Armando Quintero.

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Robert Holsted with Eel Basket Photo taken by Minerva Starritt, a teacher at Morek School in 1930-1931. Taken at Ke’pel Creek The Clarke Historical Museum, 1993.042.007A-B

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Much like salmon, lamprey, or eels as they are locally known, have deeply embedded cultural ties to the local Tribes. The Mad River was once a popular location for eeling due to the seasonal runs of eels. Eels are most commonly caught with eel hooks, which are long handheld rods with a sharpened hook at the end to puncture and capture the eels. Eel hooks are a source of pride and identity; they are often carved or decorated with designs that are significant to the eeler. Eel baskets were once commonly used along the Mad River in Blue Lake by Indigenous peoples, typically elders, living nearby. The eel baskets would be placed in the river with rocks to weigh them down and tied to a tree or anchor to keep them in place.

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Our tribe is actively working to revitalize and preserve our cultural traditions, such as eel fishing and the craftsmanship of eel hooks and baskets. This is important for us to reconnect with our heritage and ensure that our cultural identity remains strong for future generations.

I am proud that our tribe is gaining more recognition and forming partnerships with agencies like California State Parks. These collaborations help us protect our ancestral lands and show respect for our sovereignty, which is essential for our community’s growth and cultural preservation.

I think I am most excited for the preservation of our language. I remember as a child learning about the passing away of our last fluent elders. We've come a long way to reclaim our dignity and preserve what we can of our culture.

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Joumashk (Slug): a Lhatsik (traditional Wiyot story)

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Returning home after more than 100 years to mourn, celebrate, and pray.

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“I realized that native people were always making plans for our future and that we never gave up on our land or where we came from,” Baldy said. “That is the story I want people to know. I know that the story of Tuluwat, which people often refer to as Indian Island, has been one of a massacre for most people, but for me it has only been a place for world renewal.” - Cutcha Risling Baldy, Ph.D, the Native American Studies department chair at Humboldt State University

There are mixed opinions on whether to celebrate or to mourn when returning home to Duluwat. Some folks celebrated our success in returning our ceremonial lands, thinking of it as a way to make peace with the terrible things that have happened. They are optimistic for the future of our youth.

Some folks, like myself, are reminded of how brutal our slaughter really was. In my opinion, this was an act of great evil. I think the difference is in how you choose to remember the ancestors, how you choose to move forward in whatever that way may be. My opinion might differ because I'm of the opinion that our genocide is ongoing, perhaps I feel like it is too early to tell if we are safe to celebrate.

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We all have different ways of experiencing our indigenous identity. I think the biggest difficulty is navigating the families involved who all had differences in their practices. What we share now is a combination of regional cultural expressions, often spanning several tribes/bands. This is due to where and how we were attacked (displacement), pushing several smaller groups of individuals with cultural differences into larger groups.

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The goal of the Tuluwat project is to restore the cultural heritage and ecological resources of the site and surrounding salt marsh, to construct a cultural center open to the public, and to restore the site to once again perform Tribal ceremonies there. But in order to realize these goals, the Tribe first had to clean up the site, which was the site of a ship repair facility from approximately 1870 to 1990. Tons of scattered metal, wood debris, and hazardous materials littered the area, along with several dilapidated structures and contaminated soil.

The Tribe has been in the process of cleaning up the debris and pollutants left on the village site since its purchase. A vast majority of the metal and wood debris has been removed, all but three of the structures were demolished, and the most contaminated soil was excavated. The next steps are to finish the sheet piling for erosion control, rebuild the dock and bulkhead, and install a geotextile and soil cap over the site.

The Natural Resources Department has spearheaded several ongoing restoration activities at the Wiyot village site of Tuluwat on Indian Island in Humboldt Bay. The overarching project, the Indian Island Cultural and Environmental Restoration Project (IICERP), is very complex because of the multiple cultural and environmental conditions that exist at the site: historic injustice, insensitive ecosystem and manipulation, archeological & cultural significance, environmental contamination, and physical isolation all play a part in the project execution.

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As part of the survival of the Wiyot culture, the Wiyot Tribe established the Wiyot Sacred Site Fund to purchase back portions of Indian Island as they became available and other sites of religious and/or cultural significance for future generations and for those of today.

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December 9, 2019

Dear Wiyot, Tribal Members

It is with great pleasure that I present the Wiyot Tribe 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. The

development of the plan has been in the making for many months and included Tribal Staff and Tribal

Council. We are excited to provide this document as a roadmap to be used for Wiyot Tribe over the

next five years, which has been shaped by community-wide input and collaboration.

Over the past five years, Wiyot Tribe has worked diligently and realized many successes. A

couple of our success have been the return of Tuluwat city of Eureka. The building of 4 new homes on

the reservation and possibly adding more to our community. It is through the development of this new

plan that we aim to build on these past successes. It will guide our path forward, clarifying our mission

and vision while articulating our culture, goals, and strategies.

Through the strategic planning process, we have identified six strategies to address to improve

staff efficiency and functioning in the work environment health needs of the Wiyot Tribe over the next

five years. The strategies include: To improve staff efficiency and functioning in the work environment

12, expand applicable programs in the Tribal Community, improve the financial condition of the

Tribe, unite and protect tribal sovereignty, create a comprehensive communication plan for the Tribe,

and to protect and expand land resources.

The strategies presented, along with their associated goals, ensure that we will move closer

toward accomplishing our mission to provide top quality communication with our Tribal members and

others we serve over the next five years. We, as a community, have identified these strategies to

ensure our future for many years to come. I would like to thank all the stakeholders who provided input

throughout the strategic planning process. It would not have been successful without your participation

and engagement.

Sincerely,

Ted Hernandez

Chairman

Wiyot Tribe