9/5/13
The Wiyot Tribe will receive $125,000 to remove marine debris from Humboldt Bay and Indian Island, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday.
According to a NOAA release, nearly $1 million has been provided to support locally-driven, community-based marine debris prevention and removal projects to 11 groups across the country, including the Wiyot Tribe.
“Marine debris plagues coastlines all over the country, and these communities have the expertise and motivation to address it,” NOAA Marine Debris program director Nancy Wallace said in a release. “We are proud to support them as they work to mitigate impacts and address the damage marine debris has caused.”
The release states that the Wiyot Tribe will work to remove large marine debris from Humboldt Bay and on Indian Island, a National Historic Landmark and the site of the Wiyot World Renewal ceremony, a dance ceremony that lasted seven to 10 days. During a ceremony in 1860, a group of local Eureka men went to the island and massacred sleeping men, women and children. A candlelight vigil is held each year to mark the tragedy.
The tribe did not regain ownership of the land until 2000, when the tribe was able to take back 1.5 acres on the island. That was followed in 2004 by the return of about 60 acres from the city of Eureka.
NOAA’s Restoration Center is accepting applications for the next funding cycle, due by Nov. 1. For more information, visit www.habitat.noaa.gov/ funding/marinedebris.html.
