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26-467: Tolowa people foraged on, but did not live on the island, their village sites were on the headlands near Castle Rock and towards Point St. George where the intertidal zone provided shellfish and seaweed . The Tolowa hunted sea lions from 30 to 40 feet (9.1 to 12.2 m) long sea-going canoes at St. George Reef and Castle Rock. They also hunted and ate sea otters, sea lions, whales , harbor and fur seals as well as birds, eggs and juvenile birds with

52-580: A genocide. No other way to describe it. And that’s the way it needs to be described in the history books." Among these killings the Yontoket Massacre left 150 to 500 Tolowa people recorded dead. Because their homes had burned down, the place received the name "Burnt Ranch". The Yontoket massacre decimated the cultural center of the Tolowa peoples. The natives from the surrounding areas would gather there for their celebrations and discussions. The survivors of

78-586: Is a nationally significant sea bird colony and one of only two island National Wildlife Refuges in offshore California; the other is Southeast Farallon Island. As many as 150,000 seabirds are estimated to use Castle Rock, which has the largest breeding population of common murres on the Pacific Coast, with population estimates ranging as high as 100,000 for just this one species. Eleven species of seabirds, one shorebird (the black oystercatcher ) and two pinnipeds are documented to breed on Castle Rock. Castle Rock

104-518: Is assigned to be part of the Franciscan Assemblage with a base of pillow basalt rising 200 feet (61 m) on the west while the eastern end is composed of shale and greywacke . Late Pleistocene soil and a sandy subsoils up to 25 feet (7.6 m) are present on flatter areas, covered by a dark humus which can range to 12 inches (0.30 m) thick. Wave erosion of north to south trending faults have produced large sea caves on

130-532: Is known as Siletz Dee-ni, related to Tolowa, although many of the original tribes spoke Salish languages . In 2007, in coordination with the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians produced a "talking dictionary" in this language to aid in preservation and teaching. Alfred "Bud" Lane, among the last fluent native speakers of Siletz Dee-ni on

156-636: Is not open to the public to prevent disturbance to the marine mammals and sea birds. It may be viewed, and birds seen with spotting scope from the interpretive panel overlook on Pebble Beach Drive south of Washington Boulevard in Crescent City, California. Castle Rock Refuge is managed as a component of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex from headquarters in Loleta, California (located south of Eureka ). Castle Rock

182-696: Is the northernmost breeding colony of northern elephant seals , which like harbor seals breed on the island; California sea lions and Steller sea lions use the island as a haul-out but do not breed there. Harbor porpoises and gray whales are the most common cetaceans year round, with most sightings of the gray whales during their migration when they feed around Castle Rock. Mostly nocturnal , burrow and crevice nesting sea birds including tufted puffins , fork-tailed storm petrels , and Leach's storm petrels , Cassin's auklets , rhinoceros auklets , double-crested cormorant , Brandt's cormorant , pelagic cormorant and pigeon guillemots avoid predation by

208-732: The Klamath River (Tolowa-Chetco: Tʽáˑtʃʽɪᵗˑʼdɜn ) in California, to the south. They lived in approximately eight permanent villages on present-day Crescent City Harbor and Lake Earl (Tolowa-Chetco: Ee-chuu-le' or Ch'uu-let - "large body of water"). The most important Tolowa village is Yontocket, California (Tolowa-Chetco: Yan’-daa-k’vt ). Their tribal neighbors were the Chetco (Tolowa-Chetco: Chit Dee-ni’ or Chit-dv-ne' , also: Chit-dee-ni / Chit-dee-ne ), Tututni (Tolowa-Chetco: T’uu-du’-dee-ni’ or Ta-́a te ́ne , also: Tu-́tutûn t̟ûn-nĕ ) to

234-410: The diurnal western gulls which also breed on the island. April and May are prime months to see tufted puffins on the island. Peregrine falcons used to breed on the site but have not been documented since the 1940s. U.S. Endangered Species Act protected brown pelicans use the island as a communal roost but do not breed north of Monterey, California . Over 21,000 Aleutian cackling geese roost on

260-412: The 1800s, but from 1900 to 1920, it was being grazed by a private sheepherder with a cabin constructed for his use. Egg collectors and oologists visited from around 1917 to the 1960s. Private owners who planned to quarry rock for harbors and jetties bought Castle Rock from the U.S. Government in 1937. They also considered mining guano or building a tourist attraction on the island. The island

286-631: The 19th century, epidemics of new infectious diseases , such as smallpox , broke out among the Tolowa, resulting in high mortality. These occurred before they had face-to-face encounters with non-natives because of contact through intermediaries. In 1828 the American Jedediah Smith and his exploration party were the first known non-natives to contact the Tolowa. The Tolowa embraced the Ghost Dance religion from 1872 to 1882, in hopes of getting relief from European-American encroachment. In 1770

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312-834: The Chetco/ Rogue River War , 600 Tolowa were forcibly relocated to Indian reservations in Oregon, including what is now known as the Siletz Reservation in the Central Coastal Range. Later, some were moved to the Hoopa Valley Reservation in California. Adding to the number of dead from the Yontoket Massacre and the Battery Point Attack are many more in the following years. These massacres included

338-691: The Chetko Massacre with 24 dead, the Smith creek massacre with 7 dead, the Howonquet Massacre with 70 dead, the Achulet massacre with 65 dead (not including those whose bodies were left in the lake) and the Stundossun Massacre with 300 dead. In total, 902 Tolowa Native Americans were killed in 7 years. There are no records that any of the perpetrators were ever held accountable. This means over 90% of

364-516: The Downriver Indians″). Today the Karuk use also the term Imtípaheenshas (from Imtipahéeniik - ″Tolowa Indian place, i.e. Crescent City, California ″). They called themselves in a political sense also Dee-ni’ , Dee-ne, Dvn-’ee, Dee-te which means "(is a) citizen of a yvtlh-’i~ ( polity )" or "a person belonging to a place or village." The Tolowa or Dee-ni’ population exceeded 10,000. In

390-499: The Tolowa had a population of 1,000; their population soon dropped to 150 in 1910; this was almost entirely due to deliberate mass murder in what has been called genocide which has been recognized by the state of California. In a speech before representatives of Native American peoples in June 2019, California governor Gavin Newsom apologized for the genocide. Newsom said, "That’s what it was,

416-509: The entire Tolowa population was killed in deliberate massacres. They have traditionally spoken Taa-laa-wa Dee-ni' Wee-ya' (Tolowa Dee-ni' Language), the Tolowa language , one of the Athabaskan languages . At the Siletz Reservation in central Oregon, tribes speaking 10 distinct languages were brought together in the mid-19th century. In the early 21st century, the remaining native language spoken

442-1175: The island, flying at dawn to feed on nearby agricultural lands and returning to the island in the evening. Tolowa The Tolowa people or Taa-laa-wa Dee-ni’ are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethno-linguistic group. Two rancherías (Smith River and Elk Valley) still reside in their traditional territory in northwestern California. Those removed to the Siletz Reservation in Oregon are located there. Related to current locations, Tolowa people are members of several federally recognized tribes : Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation (Tolowa, Chetco, Yurok), Elk Valley Rancheria (Tolowa and Yurok), Confederated Tribes of Siletz (more than 27 native tribes and bands, speaking 10 distinct languages, including Athapascans speaking groups of SW Oregon, like Upper Umpqua, Coquille, Tututni, Chetco, Tolowa, Galice and Applegate River people), Trinidad Rancheria (Chetco, Hupa, Karuk, Tolowa, Wiyot, and Yurok), Big Lagoon Rancheria (Yurok and Tolowa), Blue Lake Rancheria (Wiyot, Yurok, and Tolowa) as well as

468-692: The male line. The men married women in neighboring tribes. The brides were usually related (sisters), in order for the wealth to remain in the paternal families. Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Various estimates for the 1770 population of Tolowa have ranged from as low as 450 to an upper end around 2,400. In 1910, there were reportedly 150 Tolowa. The 1920 census listed 121 Tolowa left in Del Norte County, California . By 2009, there were approximately 1,000 Tolowa Indians. Harbor seal Too Many Requests If you report this error to

494-501: The massacre were forced to move to the village north of Smith's River called Howonquet. The slaughtering of the Tolowa people continued for some years. They were seemingly always caught at their Needash celebrations. These massacres caused some unrest which led in part to the Rogue River Indian war. Many Tolowa people were incarcerated at Battery Point in 1855 to withhold them from joining an uprising led by their chief. In 1860, after

520-402: The most common midden bird bones being from immature cormorants. In May, men would collect eggs to be eaten as well as blown empty and used to make decorative garlands. There are no known archaeological sites on the island. White settlement in 1850 was followed by decimation of natives; only about 300 were still alive six years later. The island was claimed by the U.S. Government at the end of

546-503: The north; Shasta Costa (Tolowa-Chetco: Shis-taa-k'wvs-sta-dv-ne or See-staa-k’wvt-sta Dee-ni’ ), Takelma (Tolowa-Chetco: Ghan’-ts’ii-ne ), Galice Creek / Taltushtuntede (Tolowa-Chetco: Talh-dash-dv-ne' ) to the northeast, all of which were removed to the Siletz Reservation, and Karuk (Tolowa-Chetco: Ch'vm-ne Dee-ni' , also: Ch’vm-ne Xee-she’ ) to the east; and the Yurok (Tolowa-Chetco: Dvtlh-mvsh , also: Dvtlh-mvsh Xee-she’ ) to

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572-458: The reservation, has recorded 14,000 words of the language in this effort. The Tolowa organized their subsistence around the plentiful riverine and marine resources and acorns (san-chvn ). Their society was not formally stratified, but considerable emphasis was put on personal wealth. Tolowa villages were organized around a headman and usually consisted of related men, in a patrilineal kinship system , where inheritance and status passed through

598-473: The south side of the island, and the 100 feet (30 m) "pit" on the eastern side is not a product of quarrying but was created when a fault collapsed connecting to the ocean under an arch of remaining land. Prevailing ocean currents flow from north to south and prevailing winds from the northwest. Castle Rock is the second largest nesting seabird colony south of Alaska (after the Farallon Islands ),

624-505: The south. The name "Tolowa" is derived from Taa-laa-welh (Taa-laa-wa), an Algic name given to them by the Yurok (Klamath River People) (meaning "people of Lake Earl"). Their autonym is Hush , Xus or Xvsh, meaning "person" or "human being". The neighboring Karuk called them Yuh'ára , or Yurúkvaarar ("Indian from downriver") and used this Karuk name also for the Yurok, and the Tolowa territory Yuh'aráriik / Yuh'ararih (″Place of

650-529: The unrecognized Tolowa Nation. Their homeland, Taa-laa-waa-dvn (“Tolowa ancestral-land”) lies along the Pacific Coast between the watersheds of Wilson Creek and Smith River (Tolowa-Chetco: Xaa-wun-taa-ghii~-li , Xaa-wvn’-taa-ghii~-li~ , or Nii~-li~ ) basin and vicinity in Del Norte in northwestern California . The area is bounded by the California/Oregon border to the north, and Wilson Creek, north of

676-641: Was proposed for protection following the rediscovery of the Aleutian cackling goose, which was thought to be extinct but was found to be using the island in the spring of 1975. At that time, the entire population of the species used the areas as a spring staging ground for their northward migrations . Castle Rock remained in private ownership until 1979, when the United States Fish and Wildlife Service purchased it from The Nature Conservancy to conserve habitat for marine mammals and seabirds. Castle Rock refuge

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