UPPER LAKE – The ninth annual sunrise ceremony to commemorate the massacre at Bloody Island will be held this Saturday, May 17, beginning at 5:30 a.m.

On May 15, 1850, soldiers attacked Pomo – mostly women and children – living on the island near Upper Lake, brutalizing and murdering many of them.

“Forgiving the oppressor who was guilty of this crime is a way for us, the Pomo people, to bring back much needed positive energy and balance,” said one of the event's organizers, Clayton Duncan, in a statement on the event. “We will have prayers and our children will dance.”

To get to the ceremony, take Highway 20, turn onto Reclamation Road by the Bloody Island

Massacre Monument and follow the road to the site of the ceremony.

For more information please call Clayton Duncan at 274-6788 or Bernadine Tripp at 275-9574.

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