In the spring of 2024, the staff of Trees Foundation met with the board of Eel River Wailaki to make our partnership official! Although we have already had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects together, we are now excited to be able to offer additional support for their organization. Over the past year, our collaborations have included support for the purchase of gear for the Wailaki Cultural Fire Crew, help in the coordination of prescribed burns, and the first cultural burn in Southern Humboldt in over a century. We have also assisted with local cultural events, including the Eel River Wailaki’s Big Time. We look forward to our continued collaboration on community restoration and resilience projects. 

Eel River Wailaki—Our Story

Eel River Wailaki (ERW) is a non-profit organization composed of local Wailaki descendants formed to educate both Wailaki descendants and the wider community about our language, culture, and history. We have a number of committees that are working on multiple items/projects:

• Economic Development through Cultural Stewardship Committee
• Ceremonial Committee
• Walaki Cultural Fire Committee
• Social Media Management
• Native American Heritage Committee
• Membership Committee
• Land Access Management
• Basket Weaving Committee
• Coral Point Committee

These committees and the projects associated with them were discussed at our first annual Big Time gathering at the Southern Humboldt Community Park on May 25^th & 26^th of 2024. At this annual event, ERW Committee chairs provide information and updates on what they are currently working on as well as a variety of workshops and presentations celebrating local Native culture.

Eel River Wailaki Board Members

• Doyle Womack – Chairperson
• Rhonda Hardy – Vice-Chairperson
• Kenneth Chadbourne – Treasurer
• Traci Speelman – Secretary
• Jenny Early – Board Member
• Natasha Carrico – Board Member
• Melissa Sutherland — Board Member
• Cassandra May — Board Member

Contact ERW

We are working on a website, at this time information will be available on our Facebook page:

@Eel River Wailaki

For information on how to support our Big Time gathering email us at [email protected]