workingclasshistory:

On this day, 26 February 1860, the Wiyot massacre took place when white settlers attacked and murdered up to 250 Indigenous Wiyot people at Tuluwat, on what is now known as Indian Island, California.
The Wiyot people had never had conflict with white settlers, and so did not expect an attack, and on the day it occurred most of the young men of the tribe were away gathering supplies. The settlers armed themselves with clubs, axes, knives and a few guns and attempted to systematically murder everyone on the island: mostly women, children and the elderly.
Over the coming days more Wiyot people were murdered in the area. While many white people criticised the murders, no one was prosecuted for them, and one journalist who wrote an editorial condemning the murderers was forced to leave the area due to death threats. After the killings, the surviving Wiyot were prohibited from returning to their land.
Many of the survivors did try to resist, launching attacks on nearby white settlements, but they were eventually removed to reservations. But they and their descendants never gave up the fight for their home. The Wiyot tribe purchased a parcel of their old land in 2000, and in 2019 was given back the bulk of the remaining land by the city.
Pictured are Wiyot tribal members commemorating the massacre in 2014 https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1360148040837009/?type=3