Wiyot Tribe

Tuluwat Island Interpretive Signage

Culturally Significant Sign Fabrication

Client: Wiyot Tribe

Category: Visitor Center Exhibit

Location: Tuluwat Island. Humboldt Bay, near Eureka, California

Date: 2025

Gizmo Art Production was honored to collaborate on the fabrication of new interpretive signage for Tuluwat Island, a place of profound cultural, historical, and ecological importance to the Wiyot Tribe. Formerly known as Indian Island, Tuluwat is a living landscape that carries generations of Wiyot history, resilience, and ongoing cultural revitalization. Gizmo worked with Andrew Merriell on the design.

This project focused on transforming community-led vision and cultural knowledge into durable, site-specific signs that welcome visitors while honoring the island’s significance.

Craft, Culture, and Storytelling

Each sign was thoughtfully fabricated to reflect the spirit of Tuluwat Island. Designs feature carved eel imagery, a powerful cultural symbol tied to the Wiyot people’s relationship with the surrounding waters and ecosystems. The carvings add tactile depth and visual presence, grounding the signs in traditional forms while remaining accessible to contemporary audiences.

The signage incorporates Wiyot language, reinforcing language visibility and cultural continuity. English text accompanies the Wiyot words, sharing stories of the island’s history, ecology, and cultural importance with visitors in a clear, respectful way.

Fabrication for a Coastal Environment

Materials and fabrication methods were selected to ensure longevity in a coastal setting while honoring the cultural intent of the designs. Careful attention was given to scale, finish, and durability so the signs could integrate seamlessly into the island landscape and support long-term public education and engagement.

The completed signs now serve as enduring storytellers—marking pathways and gathering spaces with knowledge rooted in place. Together, they support education, remembrance, and reconnection, helping visitors understand Tuluwat not as a site of the past, but as a vital cultural landscape in the present.