Clarke Historical Museum
  • Home
    • Land Acknowledgement
    • Work at the Clarke!
    • About the Clarke >
      • Staff & Board
    • How to find us
  • Exhibits
    • Native Plant Garden
    • Main Hall >
      • The Christmas Flood of 1964
      • Emmerson Room >
        • The Carolyn Burns Foundation
      • Clarke Bird Collection
      • Clarke Gem & Mineral Collection
    • Nealis Hall >
      • About Nealis Hall
      • History of Nealis Hall
      • Hover Collection
      • Becker Memorial Collection
      • Past Mini-Exhibits
    • Community Case
    • Opera Alley >
      • Past Opera Alley Exhibits
    • WWII Memorial Exhibit at the Humboldt County Airport
    • Virtual Tours
    • Online Exhibits >
      • Immigration, Expulsion, Homecoming
    • Exhibit Archive >
      • Notable Women of Humboldt County
      • Bigfoot Quilt Raffle
  • Events
    • 60s Dance Party
  • Support
    • Admission
    • Membership
    • Volunteer
    • Donations & Fundraisers
    • Sponsorships
    • Internships
  • Blog
  • Education
    • Bookstore
    • TikTok Videos
    • Teacher Resources
    • Additional Resources
    • Research >
      • Humboldt History
      • Local History Links
  • NCMA
  • Tours
    • Chinatown Walking Tours
    • School Tours >
      • Donate & Schedule Your Tour

Land Acknowledgement by the Clarke Museum

The Clarke Historical Museum sits on Wiyot land in Eureka on the shores of Humboldt Bay, the traditional homeland of the Wiyot peoples of the Wiyot tribe, Blue Lake Rancheria, and Bear River Rancheria. The land that Eureka sits on is known in the Wiyot language as Jaroujiji, where you sit and rest, while Humboldt Bay is known as Wigi, after a story of how the bay became a saltwater bay. Despite actions sanctioned by the local, State and Federal governments designed specifically to remove the Wiyot (and other indigenous peoples) from the land and destroy their cultural practices, Wiyot people remain on these lands and practice ceremonies central to the maintenance of their traditions, culture, and landscape. They continue to shape the history and knowledge of this place and are actively working to restore the land stolen from them.

In response to this, the Clarke Museum pledges to continue working towards a more socially just museum through educating the public on the past, present, and future of the museum’s Native collections and related programming, and returning stolen items that are found in the museum’s collections. We encourage the public to educate themselves about whose lands they live on and the cultural heritage of the people who have been forcibly removed (see https://native-land.ca/), along with the original place names in local languages.
  • Learn more about Land Acknowledgements here.
  • Learn more about Wiyot place names here, and access the Wiyot language database via UC Berkeley here.​​

Interested in writing a land acknowledgement?
​
Click here for a video on what makes a good land acknowledgement courtesy of Dr. Cutcha Risling-Baldy with the Native American Studies Program at Humboldt State University. 

Clarke Historical Museum
240 E Street
​Eureka, California 95501
admin@clarkemuseum.org
(707) 443-1947
Open Wednesday-Sunday
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Closed Monday & Tuesday

​
Open until 8:30 p.m. during Friday Night Markets
Open until 9 p.m. during Eureka Arts Alive
Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.