Arcata, California
Arcata is a city located in Humboldt County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 16,651. Visitors to Arcata frequently feel as if they had entered a time warp and emerged in the 60's era of granny-gowned, tied-died flower children driving VW busses adorned with peace signs. This college town is home to Humboldt State University, which accounts for approximately half of its residents.
Arcata, which is adjacent to Humboldt Bay on the "redwood coast," is a bastion of liberal thought in otherwise conservative lumber country and is sometimes derided by outlying Humboldt residents as "The People's Republic of Arcata." It is the first city in the United States to elect a majority of its city council members from the Green Party. Established during the timber boom generated by the 19th centrury Gold Rush, Arcata features a large number of original Victorian structures, many of which have been lovingly restored. For its size, the city has many bookstores, coffeehouses, restaurants, galleries and music venues. It is also home to the beloved Humboldt Crabs of semi-pro baseball fame, who frequently play before sold-out crowds (of c. 1500) each summer.
In order to preserve its community character, laws in Arcata limit the number of chain businesses allowed in the city. Residents hotly debate major issues, including protection of the physical environment, the domination of America by corporate culture, and legalization of marijuana. Arcata was the first city in the nation to pass a law purporting to nullify the USA PATRIOT Act in that city. The legality of this has not yet been tested.
Geography
Arcata is located at 40°52'22" North, 124°4'58" West (40.872805, -124.082814)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.6 km² (11.0 mi²). 23.8 km² (9.2 mi²) of it is land and 4.8 km² (1.9 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 16.76% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 16,651 people, 7,051 households, and 2,813 families residing in the city. The population density is 699.6/km² (1,812.1/mi²). There are 7,272 housing units at an average density of 305.5/km² (791.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 84.51% White, 1.56% Black or African American, 2.65% Native American, 2.27% Asian, 0.20% Pacific Islander, 3.49% from other races, and 5.31% from two or more races. 7.22% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 7,051 households out of which 19.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.9% are married couples living together, 10.4% have a female householder with no husband present, and 60.1% are non-families. 34.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.16 and the average family size is 2.81.
In the city the population is spread out with 15.3% under the age of 18, 32.3% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 26 years. For every 100 females there are 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $22,315, and the median income for a family is $36,716. Males have a median income of $26,577 versus $24,358 for females. The per capita income for the city is $15,531. 32.2% of the population and 14.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 22.4% of those under the age of 18 and 6.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Culture and institutions
 | The neutrality of this section is disputed. |
Arcata is host of Humboldt State University, a part of the California State University system. With a student body of nearly half the town's total population, Arcata is a classic example of a traditional "college town" - with all the concomitant cultural advantages, but also with the inevitable tensions that arise between native born residents and the student population.
Work in Arcata consists largely of dumpster-diving, the university (which is often despised by conservatives and especially those in the timber industry), and small businesses that are often housed in converted houses.
The largest newspaper in the city is the Arcata Eye. The newspaper is well-known for its police reports, included for the purpose of humor, although the paper has been accused of using these reports to showcase a bias against unhoused people. In response, an independent publication, the Plazoid [1][theplazoid.blogspot.com] started to document civil and human rights abuses perpetrated against the unhoused.
History
The Wiyot and Yurok are the farthest-southwest people whose language has Algonquian roots. Their traditional homeland ranged from Mad River through Humboldt Bay (including the present cities of Eureka and Arcata) to the lower Eel river basin. Inland, their territory was heavily forested in ancient redwood. Their stretch of shoreland was mostly sandy, dunes and tidal marsh, not rocky cliffs, such as begin a bit further south.
Indian Island, formerly called Duluwat Island, was and is the center of Wiyot world. On the island a ceremonial dance was held to start the new year. The ceremony was called the World Renewal ceremony. All people were welcomed, no one was turned away. The ceremony lasted seven to ten days. It was held at the village site of Tutulwat on the northern part of the island. Traditionally the men would leave the island and return the next day with the day's supplies. The elders, women and children were left to rest on the island along with a few men.
They ate mostly clams and acorns and made long carved log canoes. Healers and ceremonial leaders were mostly women, who got their powers on mountain tops at night.
The tribe had been comparatively little affected by the Spanish, whose string of mission-prison camps extended only as far north as San Francisco Bay. The Russian fur traders, whose 18th-century invasion in search of the sea otter devastated the Pomo, were unintersted in their sandy shorelands, not a sea-otter habitat. Destruction came to them mainly with the invasion of Americans following their victory in the Mexican war. Miners, farmers, ranchers poured into California, and many settled at what's now Eureka.
On February 25, 1860, the Wiyot experienced a tragic massacre which not only devastated their numbers, but has remained a pervasive part of their cultural heritage and identity. World Renewal ceremonies were being held at the village of Tutulwat, on "Indian Island" about a mile and a half offshore from Eureka in Humboldt Bay. The leader of the Humboldt Bay Wiyots was Captain Jim. He organized and led the ceremony to start a new year.
A group of Eureka men came stealthily to the island in the early morning after the ceremony was completed for the evening. They were armed with hatchets, clubs and knives. They left their guns behind so the noise of the slaughter would be only screams -- which don't carry far -- rather than gunshots. This was not the only massacre that took place that night. Two other village sites were raided, on the Eel River and on the South Spit. More than one hundred people were slain that night.
Eureka newspapers of the time exulted at the night massacres conducted by the "good citizens of the area". Good haul of Diggers and Tribe Exterminated! were 2 headlines from the Humboldt Times. Those who thought diffrently about it were shut up by force. Newspaper publisher and short story writer Bret Harte called it "cowardly butchery of sleeping women and children" -- then had to flee ahead of a lynch mob that smashed his printing presses.
The Wiyot people were decimated. They were corralled at Fort Humboldt. This was another California case of the Army protecting Indians from their own violent and barbaric citizens. Survivors were herded mostly to Round Valley, establishd as an Indian concentration camp ("reservation") within California.They kept escaping and returning to their homeland.
By 1850, there were about 2000 Wiyot and Karok people living within this area. After 1860 there was an estimated 200 people left. By 1910 there were less than 100 full blood Wiyot people living within Wiyot territory. This rapid decline in population was due to disease, slavery, target practice, protection, being herded from place to place (survivors' descendants describe this as "death marches") , and massacres.
Recent History
In August of 1989, the voters of Arcata passed the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Act, prohibiting activities benefiting nuclear weapons contractors within city jurisdictional limits.
In 2003 the city passed a law making it illegal to voluntarily cooperate with enforcement of the USA PATRIOT Act, making it the first to take such a step.
Arcata is also known for its progressive involvement in Environmental Politics and Environmental activism. As an example, in 1981, Arcata constructed the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. The Arcata Marsh has multiple uses including recreation, wildlife habitat, education, and wastewater treatment. In 1996 Arcata elected the first-ever Green party city council majority.
External links
- City of Arcata website
- Arcata City Ordinance 1299: the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Act
- Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary
- The Plazoid
- Humboldt State University
