Tuluwat Island in Humboldt Bay is the ancestral home of the Wiyot Tribe and the site of one of the most notorious massacres in California history. In February 1860, settlers attacked a Wiyot gathering there, killing dozens of people during a World Renewal ceremony. The community of Eureka was largely silent in the aftermath; the journalist Bret Harte, then working at the local paper, was the only one who publicly condemned the killings and was forced to leave town as a result.
After more than a century of effort, the Wiyot Tribe regained ownership of the island in 2004 and have been restoring it since. The island is not open to regular public access, but it is visible from the waterfront and from the Humboldt Bay harbor cruise, and understanding its history is essential to understanding Eureka. The tribal center and a small cultural museum are accessible on the mainland.