As the Humboldt Bay Harbor District continues to gather public feedback for the proposed Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project on the Samoa Peninsula, the Wiyot Tribe is urging residents to carefully consider the full scope of environmental impacts associated with port development.Last week, the Wiyot Tribe published a video, “Wigi Past Present Future Story,” which highlights the cultural significance of Humboldt Bay and Tuluwat Island, the Tribe’s spiritual center of the universe, and warns that the offshore wind development could “significantly impact Wiyot ceremony” and “alter the ecology of the bay.”“Although the terminal development is proposed as a singular project, it is tied to the larger offshore wind development plan for the North Coast,” according to a statement shared with the Outpost by Wiyot Tribal Administrator Michelle Vassel. “The proposed port development must be looked at wholly and in its entirety, to gauge the impacts of the port and the impacts various industries will have on Wigi. Our community must understand the scope of impacts, in their entirety.”In the video, an unseen Wiyot elder speaks to a young man about an industrial terminal coming to Humboldt Bay “that could change everything.” Looking out over a computer-generated view of the Samoa Peninsula from Tuluwat at sunrise, the elder warns, “It is a fragile thing, this bay. One small shell is a loose thread, child. You pull it, and the whole tapestry comes undone.”The scene dims, and several enormous wind turbines slowly spin at the future project site, glowing red in the nighttime fog. The elder explains that “balance matters,” and asserts that “clean energy in the wrong place can take more than it gives.”“Here, it could unravel the bay, the wetlands and people who depend on them,” the elder says. “But fortunately, things could still change. Let’s tear down these giants and restore the bay.”Keep ReadingWatch the video: Wigi Past Present Future Story
