| Reconciliation Meeting Ushers in Land Restitution With Native Americans |
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From CharismaNOW October 5, 2004.
On May 18, the Eureka, Calif., city council voted unanimously to return to the Wiyot Tribe 40 acres of Indian Island, located off the coast of northern California. Nearly 500 people attended the official deed-signing ceremony June 25. Amid cheers, Eureka Mayor Peter La Vallee signed over the deed to the Indian Island property to Cheryl Seidner, chairwoman of the Wiyot Tribe. Then they exchanged gifts in a gesture of goodwill. "I think what we are doing is reinventing history," La Vallee said, the Associated Press (AP) reported. "You can't say you're sorry, but 144 years later, we can say it wasn't right and honor the culture of the tribe and its roots." The full report on the Wiyot Tribe land restitution can be found in the October issue of "Charisma" magazine, out now. Historical documents show that on Feb. 22, 1860, a band of white men invaded the Wiyot village at night, killing scores of elders, women and children as they slept. Seidner said more Indians were killed in two other massacres on nearby South Spit and at the mouth of the Eel River. The tribal leader credits a reconciliation conference in May 2001 with creating an atmosphere that made the deed-signing ceremony possible. A group of pastors with the Humboldt Evangelical Alliance (HEAL) invited the Native American ministry Wiconi International, based in Vancouver, Wash., to facilitate a time of healing and reconciliation between churches in Humboldt County, the Wiyot and other First Nations people in the region. During the three-day event, members of HEAL honored the Wiyot Tribal Council of Table Bluff Reservation with gifts and a commitment in writing to work with the tribe to get back this sacred site, the AP reported.
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