Please sign this Petition:
Urge the U.S. Senate not to flood Winnemem Wintu sacred lands by raising the height of the Shasta Dam:
https://www.credomobilize.com/petitions/stop-the-plan-to-flood-winnemem-wintu-sacred-lands
Urge the U.S. Senate not to flood Winnemem Wintu sacred lands by raising the height of the Shasta Dam:
https://www.credomobilize.com/petitions/stop-the-plan-to-flood-winnemem-wintu-sacred-lands
<<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>>
{{ Middle Water People }} The Winnemem Wintu tribe is indigenous to northern California and has been formally recognized by the California Native American Heritage Commission, an agency of the State of California with responsibility for preserving and protecting Native American sites and cultural resources in California We once numbered approximately 14,000; by 1910, after several decades of conflict with white settlers, that number had plummeted to 400. Today the tribe’s population is approximately 150. Archeological and ethnographic studies indicate that we have lived in the McCloud River area of northern California for at least 6,000 years, but our traditional knowledge and stories provide evidence we have been here for far longer. Since 1985, the U.S. government has refused to grant federal recognition of the Winnemem Wintu tribe. The lack of federal recognition jeopardizes the tribe’s continued existence in the Mount Shasta area and has cut off federal benefits that are provided to tribes with federal recognition and which the federal government previously provided to the Winnemem Wintu. In the face of these hardships, the tribe strives to preserve its native language, practice its religion and traditional healing methods, and protect its sacred sites and burial grounds from further encroachment by the federal government. |
<<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>>
Raising Shasta Dam The US Bureau of Reclamation still proposes to raise Shasta Dam, even though more economically and ecologically sound options could be implemented with greater benefits all around. Raising the height of Shasta Dam would drown most of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe’s last remaining sacred sites and traditional homelands, decimate endangered salmon and violate the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act by flooding the McCloud River. It is a criminal waste of taxpayer money, especially since cheaper, faster, state-of-the-art alternatives exist to ensure the state’s long-term water supply. Reject the California Emergency Drought Relief Act and any other legislation that could authorize raising Shasta Dam. Join our fight today to stop the Shasta Dam raise. Help preserve Winnemem Wintu culture and religion for future generations, and it will save all Californians from waste and unnecessary ecological destruction to benefit a few rich agri-business leaders. You can’t stop a drought with a dam! << >> <<< >>> <<>> http://www.winnememwintu.us/2015/11/12/sign-the-petition-to-stop-the-plan-to-flood-winnemem-wintu-sacred-lands/ |
<<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>>
Chief Sisk to Represent Federally Unrecognized Tribes at the 85th session of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination TUIIMYALI, CA – Winnemem Wintu Chief and Spiritual Leader Caleen Sisk is one of five indigenous leaders from North America chosen to present at the United Nations’ 85th Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which well be held Aug. 11-16 in Geneva, Switzerland. At the session, she will present a three-minute intervention about the discriminatory nature of the U.S. government’s label of “federally unrecognized tribe”, which has been applied to dozens of historical California tribes because they were not on the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs’ original list of “federally recognized” tribes in 1978. The CERD is a body of human rights experts who monitor the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which was ratified in 1965. “The label of ‘unrecognized’ dehumanizes our tribes and puts us in a ‘less than’ category even though many of us, including the Winnemem, have a well-documented history as a tribe,” Sisk said. “Every step we take to try to support and revitalize our traditions, preserve our language, and practice our culture is blocked by this label.” Without federal recognition, the Winnemem Wintu are barred from owning religious items such as eagle feathers, can’t access BIA scholarships and are ineligible for protection under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and Indian Child Welfare Act. More specifically, the lack of federal recognition has prevented the Winnemem from securing the necessary privacy to hold their Coming of Age Ceremonies on the McCloud River. It has also limited the Winnemem’s ability to intervene in with the U.S. government’s proposal to raise Shasta Dam, which would submerge or damage nearly 40 sacred sites integral to Winnemem culture. Previous to receiving the funding to attend, Chief Sisk and the tribe submitted a so-called “shadow report” to the CERD, outlining the tribe’s history and the ways the federal recognition policy results in racial discrimination against historical tribes. “I hope that we can raise awareness that the U.S. has problems in honoring the rights of its indigenous peoples, and we need to bring to light that the U.S. has created a false caste system in Indian Country,” Sisk said. “Tribes don’t deserve to be treated like we are.” <<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>> |
<<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>>
McCloud Salmon Return In the early 1900s, the McCloud River salmon eggs were transported to New Zealand where they established a stable fishery in the Rakaia River. The Maori people are ready to return these disease-free, genetically pristine salmon back to us, but we need the support of several federal and state agencies to complete this project. Based on our cultural knowledge and sound science, we have a plan to return the salmon and reconnect the McCloud to the Sacramento River to bypass the Shasta Dam. The Winnemem Wintu’s efforts to return their salmon home to the McCloud is a paramount matter of cultural survival. It’s also a cost-efficient project that will return the salmon, restore the River’s ecology and habitat and also provide jobs and an economic boost from fishing. << >> <<< >>> <<>> A spiritual, ecological and cultural mission We are researching and developing a proposal for a passageway around Shasta Dam for the returning spawning salmon and the outgoing ocean bound salmon fingerlings. This passageway would ideally be designed so that it would be used by migrating Chinook salmon with little or no human intervention. In recent years, there have been many developments with fish passages, and we will be working with BOR and NOAA to develop a state- of-the-art project. Salmon are a vital species to the McCloud River ecosystem; they keep the waters clean by turning over rocks when they spawn. And they provide abundant food for bears, eagles, orcas and people. They also traverse the boundary between salt and freshwater, bringing nutrients to the Earth, trees and fauna they wouldn’t ordinarily receive. The Nur are also an important relative to us, and to have lost that relationship for so long has left a void in our hearts and in our religious and spiritual beliefs. Returning the salmon to the McCloud is of the upmost important not only for the survival of California salmon but also for our own survival as a people. It is a chance to not only heal an ecological wound caused by the Shasta Dam but to also provide some justice for a crime against our culture. http://www.winnememwintu.us/mccloud-salmon-restoration/ dancingsalmonhome.com <<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>> |
Learn more about the CERD:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/ http://www.winnememwintu.org/ Read the Winnemem’s Shadow Report Presented to the CERD: http://www.winnememwintu.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Winnemem-Wintu-shadow-report-FINAL-2-copy.pdf http://www.winnememwintu.us/2014/07/31/winnemem-wintu-chief-caleen-sisk-to-report-on-racial-discrimination-of-federal-tribal-recognition-at-the-united-nations-in-geneva/ <<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>> |
To support the McCloud Salmon Return:
Read and distribute this factsheet: http://www.winnememwintu.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Returning-the-McCloud-River-Salmon.pdf Sign a tribal resolution, like this sample. http://www.winnememwintu.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Resolutionsalmon.pdf Send a letter of support to the relevant government agencies. (See this template.) http://www.winnememwintu.us/salmon-letter <<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>> |
Journey to Justice The Winnemem Wintu People of the McCloud River region (traditional guardians/carekeepers of Mt. Shasta) already have been forced to forfeit most of their original lands to the flood of 'progress' that has inundated this continent over the last few centuries. Undermining civil rights and the ability to defend these lands, the Federal Government consistently has neglected to fulfill treaty obligations, and to recognize the Winnemem Wintu as an official Native American Nation. In a country that lauds freedom of religion and respect for cultural diversity, {not to mention, truth, justice, and pursuit of happiness for all people} . . . how do we honestly justify the disenfranchisement of cultures whose spiritual and traditional roots have been focussed in these lands since long before Anglo-Europeans even knew they existed? Surely, we have other ways to generate energy and irrigate crops without causing destruction or loss to others. If we do not develop ways to progress without violating environmental and cultural health, we wind up with debts we cannot pay. We reap what we sow. "We gave up our homeland for the sake of the California people and got nothing in return. Now you want to take our sacred places and again we get nothing in return." (Dan Bacher) The Winnemem are not alone in our struggle with the recognition process as the Government Accoutability Office has documented the severe problems, corruption and lack of transparency that plagues the BIA’s Office of Federal Acknowledgment. By labeling us as “unrecognized”, the federal government can ignore the laws that require it consult us when its actions could affect our sacred sites or have environmental impacts on our ancestral lands. Because we’re “unrecognized,” we are currently shut out of the process and have limited or no impact on decisions that affect our health and way of life. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0249.pdf <<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>> |
"If there were only a few hundred people left who practiced Islam or Judaism, would the country support knocking down the last mosque or the last temple? That is what a dam raise would do to the Winnemem." (http://www.winnememwintu.us/journey-to-justice/shasta-dam-raise/) A few feet of water for the dam might mean a few seasons of predicable profits for energy and water companies -- it would wipe out centuries of traditional worship and cultural integrity for the Winnemem people. By now, the precedent has been established -- the economics of progress are held to be more important than the cultures and traditions of peoples who, until recently, have not even been recognized as human. This is unjust -- it always has been. Some will say it is the way of the world. Must it be? Haven't we come far enough in our own culture to address this hypocrisy and take real steps to turn it around? We cannot replace what already has been destroyed. The least we can do is work around what remains and stop decimating traditional lands and cultures of 'endangered' populations. Do First Nations peoples have a right to peacefully defend their homeland and cultural tradition -- so integrally bound to the land of their birth -- ancestral roots -- and the elements in ways the "western mind" simply does not comprehend . . . ? Of Course They Do . . . here in . . . America . . . Land Of The Free . . . Home Of The Brave . . . first and foremost devoted to the right to worship freely according to individual conscience and "spiritual orientation" . . . don't they . . . ?! If "stealth riders" attached to "must-pass" bills {DOD/DOT/DOE} become "law" in clear violation of federal, state and popular mandates, why do we not allow the same free passage for legitimate corrections of technical errors, bureaucratic negligence, and institutionalized corruption? Is this really just about blatant Lust for Profit and Power on the part of a handful of self-interested brokers . . . In The Name Of God -- NO LESS!?! <<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>> |
How You Can Help http://www.winnememwintu.us/how-you-can-help-2/ http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/support-winnemem-cultural-1.fb40?source=s.fb.ty&r_by=2224310 https://app.box.com/s/i27l1goagf8av8scx0pn <<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>> |
Contact [email protected] 14840 Bear Mountain Road, Redding, CA. (530) 275-2737 Media Contact: Chief Caleen Sisk, (530) 229-4096; Tribal Spokesperson, Michael Preston, (530) 410-9768 <<>> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> << >> <<< >>> <<>> |
k. allen
November 2015