Presbytery of the Redwoods
History of the Land & Peoples
Re-storying the Land through these questions:
Natural history: What was Here? What is Still Here?
Tribal lands and human history: Who was Here? Who is Still Here?
Church and Camp history: What is the story of the Presbytery of the Redwoods, 1849 - Present?
Native Land Digital's territory map with general outline of the Redwoods Presbytery in yellow.
29 Indigenous tribes connected to the lands where the Presbytery ministers: Coastal Miwok, Karkin, Muwekma, Patwin, Kashaya, Southern Pomo, Wappo, Central Pomo, Southeastern Pomo, Lake Miwok, Shigom, Northern Pomo, Eastern Pomo, Northeastern Pomo, Coast Yuki, Cahto, Northern Yuki, Sinkyone, Lassik, Wailki, Mattole, Wiyot, Nongatl, Whilkut, Yurok, Chilula, Hoopa, Karuk, and Tolowa Dee’ni
Left: All the Churches throughout the history of the Presbytery (in yellow) and Indian Boarding Schools, operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (in red). Right: Same Churches and Boarding Schools, depicted on Native Land Digital's territory map.
76 Churches & 2 Camps, throughout the history of the Presbytery of the Redwoods
4 historical Indian Boarding Schools: Hoopa, Round Valley, Kelseyville, and Middletown; 8 others throughout California
Time-enabled, depicting the founding dates of all the Churches throughout the history of the Presbytery
47 current Churches & 2 Camps, operating on lands traditionally inhabited by 13 Indigneous tribes
Left: Current Church & Camp locations within the Redwoods Presbytery. Right: Same Churches & Camps, depicted on Native Land Digital's territory map.
Churches on Wiyot Tribal Land with Native Lands Digital: McKinleyville, Arcata, Blue Lake, Bayside, Eureka, Fortuna
Tuluwat Island
Sacred land to the Wiyot people, the center of their world. Burial site for their ancestors and home to their annual World Renewal Ceremony for at least a thousand years, according to Ted Hernandez, Tribal Chair.
Site of Wiyot Massacre in 1860. Calculated, middle-of-the-night murder of 200 tribal members by new settlers on the land.
Tuluwat returned to the stewardship of the Wiyot People by the City of Eureka. In 2000, the tribe raised money to purchase the 1.5 acre-site of the World Renewal Ceremony. Not long afterward, Eureka returne an initial 40 acres, with the final 202 acres deeded in 2019. Possibly the first local municipal government to return land to Indigenous people. In 1992, women of the Wiyot tribe partnered with local, white women to pray for the land to be returned, claiming that you have to have a vision for something if you can even hope for it to be fulfilled. "We are still here. We are still a people. We still cast a shadow. We are not gone," Carol Seidner, former Tribal Chair.
Tuluwat