Lest We Forget: 150 Attend Memorial Ceremony to Remember Bloody Island Massacre of 1850

by Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Challenges. Discussion »

CLEAR LAKE, CALIFORNIA - A dozen protesters from the Sogorea Te sacred burial site, commonly known as Glen Cove, traveled about 120 miles northeast from Vallejo to Clear Lake to honor the Pomo Indian people who were massacred there on May 15, 1850.

Bloody Island Massacre Victims Honored with Prayer

The protesters, who have been at Sogorea Te for over a month, went to Clear Lake to participate in the annual memorial ceremony. During the sunrise ceremony, Norman “Wounded Knee” DeOcampo (Miwok), Fred Short (Ojibwa) and Dietre (Dakota) addressed the group of 150 people, explained the situation at Sogorea Te and asked for support and prayers.

The Sogorea Te song was then sung with clappers by Mickey Gemmill Jr, Naiche Dominguez and Dietre, accompanied by Doug Duncan (Pomo).

Wounded Knee (Miwok) Seeks Support for Sogorea Te Protest

The Bloody Island Massacre, also known as Clear Lake Massacre, was a horrific scene where between 75 - 200 Pomo men, women and children were killed by the 1st Dragoons Regiment of the U.S. Calvary. The actual number of those killed will never be known, but the National Park Service has estimated that between 60 to 400 Pomo Indians were killed during the massacre.

The protesters returned to Sogorea Te to keep the protest the Vallejo city officials’ plan to erect two toilets and put in 15 parking spaces so people can walk the trails of Sogorea Te.

posted May 16, 2011 10:57 am et