Wiyot People, Places, and Practices

Wiyot Basketry

    Wiyot basketry is a very ancient art form with a long rich history. Wiyot and Yurok populations brought the knowledge of single sided overlay basketry to California. Once there neighboring groups adopted and elaborated on this art form, creating new designs and basketry forms. Despite sharing a similar heritage, Yurok and Wiyot each have developed their own unique styles of basketry.
    Wiyot basketry often differs from other Northwestern California basketry in a variety of ways. Wiyot weavers often use designs of very narrow speckled horizontal bands of beargrass, one or two rows wide. These speckled bands can be used in combination with larger designs. 
    Wiyot baskets often use common basketry materials such as beargrass and spruce roots, but maidenhair fern (typically used for black designs) was usually not used. Wiyot basket weavers have distinctive methods for creating black designs. One method is to dye woodwardia fern which is unusual because woodwardia is most commonly dyed red elsewhere in Northwestern California. The second method is by using the naturally black or deep brown colored rhizome of horsetail or Indian scouring rush (Equisetum).
    -Indian Baskets of Northern California and Oregon, Ralph Shanks
Wiyot People, Places, and Practices
The traditional territory of the Wiyot (pronounced WEE-yot) Tribe once encompassed several hundred square miles, from Bear River Mountains in the south to the Little River in the north. The territory itself is divided into three regions: Batwa’t (lower Mad River), Wigi (Humboldt Bay) and Wi’yat (lower Eel River).
    Wiyot language is Algonquian-based and the people call themselves Soolah-te-luk. The name “Wiyot” is derived from Yurok terminology. Yurok language is classified as Algonkian, distinctly different from the Wiyot language.
County of Humboldt | Samoa Peninsula Wastewater Project Draft EIR | 4.4-26 

Wiyot People

Wiyot Places
Wiyot Place Names
By Lynnika Butler, Wiyot
Video Production
The video is the product of a fellowship from the Institute of Museum and Library Studies (IMLS), the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM), and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. 
In it, you will learn the native Wiyot names for several prominent sites in Wiyot territory, such as Humboldt Bay, Eel River, Eureka, etc. Wherever possible, I have included audio of native Wiyot speakers saying these names, and I discuss the meanings and the history behind each place name.