40°48′54″N 124°09′40″W / 40.815°N 124.161°W / 40.815; -124.161 The 1860 Indian Island Massacre refers to the incidents on February 26, 1860, at Tuluwat on what is now known as Indian Island, near Eureka, California.

Based upon Wiyot Tribe estimates, 80 to 250 Wiyot men, women, and children were murdered by white settlers who had settled in the area within the previous 10 years as part of the California Gold Rush. To avoid drawing attention from nearby Eureka residents, some of whom may not have condoned the genocidal killings, the attackers primarily used hatchets, clubs and knives. Contrary to a commonly held view, guns were used to murder Indians, according to Professor Jack Norton Sr.'s seminal book titled "Genocide in Northwestern California: When Our Worlds Cried." In fact, in that book, Norton said that some Eureka residents reported hearing several shots that night but knowledge of the genocidal acts were not widely known at the time.

Because most of the adult able-bodied men were away gathering supplies as part of continuing preparation for the World Renewal Ceremony, nearly all the Wiyot men murdered are believed to have been older men, which is one reason why the Wiyot were largely defenseless. It is untrue to say the Wiyot were killed with ease because they were "exhausted from the annual celebration." The celebration usually lasted seven to 10 days, and the men traditionally left at night for the supplies while the elders, women and children slept. That is why most victims were children, women and elder men.

The Tuluwat/Indian Island massacre was part of a coordinated simultaneous attack that targeted other Wiyot sites around Humboldt Bay, including an encampment on the Eel River. Though the attack was widely condemned in newspapers outside of Humboldt County, no one was ever prosecuted for the murders. One writer in nearby Union (now Arcata, California), the then-uncelebrated Bret Harte, wrote against the killers and would soon need to leave the area due to the threats against his life.

The Wiyot Tribe said the Wiyot were not allowed to return to the island or their other land, and they often found their land stolen and/or destroyed. Recently, the Wiyot have been repurchasing the land in order to perform their annual World Renewal Ceremony.^[1]

• New York Times article, April 12, 1860