- Home
- Departments
- Cultural
- Da Gou Rou Louwi' Cultural Center
- A Photographic Exploration of Wigi
A Photographic Exploration of Wigi
Soulatluk place names featured in the soon-to-be-released book by Aldaron Laird
A statement by the author:
I am a newcomer to Wigi, having arrived nearly 50 years ago. Ever since, I have been fascinated with exploring and experiencing my adopted home. As an environmental planner, over decades, I have studied the historical development of Wigi and its adjacent lands. I was availed the opportunity to map and photographically document Wigi’s shoreline to facilitate assessment of its vulnerability to sea level rise. As a photographer, visually embracing compositions, patterns, and lighting, enhanced my perspective and awareness when traversing the lands and waters of Wigi. This book is the result.
NOTE FROM THE WIYOT TRIBE: Just as in English, Soulatluk (aka Wiyot language) place names can be pronounced with some variation, whether due to dialect, historical change, or family tradition. This is why you will see multiple pronunciations of some names below; no version is more "correct" than any other!
| Soulatluk | English | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Baduwa't(spoken by Della Prince & Nettie Rossig, 1956) | Mad River | unknown (may be simply a proper name) | -- |
Bi'murr (also Bi'mirr)(spoken by Della Prince, 1956) | South Spit / South Jetty | unknown (may be simply a proper name) | -- |
Daluwutk(spoken by Della Prince, 1956) | Fields Landing area | unknown | -- |
Dukdoughugu'w(spoken by Della Prince, 1956) | Salmon Creek / Beatrice | "trail goes across the c[ree]k"--Birdie James, 1942; "where you fish & go across"--Amos Riley, 1942; "where road goes across"--Della Prince, ca. 1956 | -- |
Jarouk Highuchguk (also Durouk Higuchguk)(spoken by Della Prince, 1956) | Buhne Point | "on the s[outh] side the bluff has been caving at one time, and you can't get down to it"--Amos Riley, 1942 | "Formerly a large village, its inhabitants were dispossessed by Captain H. H. Buhne, who established himself there as a pilot in 1850 and laid out the townsite of Humboldt City."--Edward Curtis (1924). The North American Indian, vol. 13, p. 227 |
Goudi'ni(spoken by Della Prince, 1956) | Arcata | Arcata bottoms--Jerry James & Elsie Barto, 1922; "over in the woods/inland" (based on grammar) | -- |
Goumayirru' Daqh(Spoken by Brian Mead Jr. & Catalina Lopez, 2024) | Freshwater Creek / Slough | "eddy water"--Birdie James, 1942; "a stream makes a kind of a whirlpool like & then goes right on"--Amos Riley, 1942 | -- |
Hikshari' hou lalilhwu'l ("Hikshari''s River")(spoken by Catalina Lopez & Brian Mead Jr., 2024) | Elk River / Slough | Hikshari' (also pronounced Hiksha'ri,Ksha'ri, & other variations) has no known meaning; hou lalilhwu'l = "its river" | "Elk r[iver] m has swung far n[orth] during my lifetime. The old trussel [trestle?] is all covered with sand."--Birdie James, 1942 |
Hutverroulh(spoken by Catalina Lopez & Brian Mead Jr., 2024) | rookery on Tuluwat (formerly known in English as Indian Island) | unknown (but seems to be related to the word for "south") | -- |
Jaroujiji(spoken by Della Prince, 1956) | Eureka (especially the waterfront area) | "a place to rest or sit down"--Amos Riley, 1942; "Means when you are on the way somewhere & one sits down somewhere tired to take a rest."--Birdie James, 1942 | a resting place when traveling across the bay by canoe |
Kvelha'ts(spoken by Dandy Bill, 1913 phonograph recording) (spoken by Catalina Lopez & Brian Mead Jr., 2024) | Ryan Slough area | unknown | -- |
Rraloughugu'w(spoken by Della Prince, 1956) | Table Bluff | "road goes over hill"--Della Prince, ca. 1956 | -- |
Shirouk Dumi(spoken by Brian Mead Jr. & Catalina Lopez, 2024) | mouth of Jacoby Creek | "old-lady s. you sit-down!"--Birdie James, 1942 | -- |
shou'r(spoken by Nettie Rossig & Della Prince, 1956) | ocean / beach / coast | ocean / beach / coast | -- |
tsoutsgish(spoken by Nettie Rossig & Della Prince, 1956; and Wiyot youth, 2020) | bird(s) | bird(s) | -- |
Tuluwat(spoken by Della Prince, 1956) | formerly known in English as Indian Island | "floating I[slan]d, that is what our people call it: land that is floating around."--Amos Riley, 1942 | "Whenever the presence of an Indian village was undesirable to the whites the Indians were required to move, so that in a few years. the larger part of the Indians on Humboldt bay were concentrated on Gunther [Tuluwat] island [...], at the mouth of Elk river [...], and at the harbor entrance [...]."--Llewellyn Loud, 1918. Ethnogeography and Archaeology of the Wiyot Territory, p. 286 |
Tvughuqhu'r(spoken by Catalina Lopez & Brian Mead Jr.) | Mad River Slough | "where the slu comes through"--Birdie James, 1942 | -- |
Wigi(spoken by Nettie Rossig & Della Prince, 1956) | Humboldt Bay | unknown (may be simply a proper name) | -- |
Wiya't(spoken by Della Prince & Nettie Rossig, 1956) | Eel River | unknown (may be simply a proper name) | -- |