To: Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-6), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA-1), and Sen. Kamala Harris (CA-2)
Rep. Matsui and Senators Boxer and Feinstein: Support Winnemem cultural survival, oppose raising...
Please take a stand to support Winnemem Wintu cultural survival by voting "no" on H. R. 4125 (Costa) and opposing an expected companion Senate bill to authorize the proposal to raise Shasta Dam by 18.5 feet. Raising the dam to that height would inundate or damage more than 40 sacred Winnemem sites, including their Coming of Age ceremony grounds on the Winnemem Waywaqat (McCloud River).
The Winnemem Wintu are a small, traditional tribe in Northern California who are struggling to survive as a culture and maintain their indigenous religious practices, all of which are threatened by the U.S. government's proposal to raise Shasta Dam by 18.5 feet. With the building of Shasta Dam in 1945, they were flooded out of much of their ancestral land without compensation and lost many villages, burial sites and sacred sites beneath the Lake, a loss that still causes the Winnemem people much heartache to this day. This latest proposal would deluge and destroy much more of Winnemem people's ancestral land, devastate the tribe's cultural heritage, and prevent them from obseerving their traditional spiritual practices.
Representative Jim Costa, of Fresno, has introduced H.R. 4125, co-signed by a number of California Democratic Congressmen, to raise the dam. The bill makes no mention of the U.S. government's standing debt to the Winnemem people. For these reasons I am writing to urge you to support Winnemem Wintu cultural survival by opposing this bill.
The Winnemem Wintu are a small, traditional tribe in Northern California who are struggling to survive as a culture and maintain their indigenous religious practices, all of which are threatened by the U.S. government's proposal to raise Shasta Dam by 18.5 feet. With the building of Shasta Dam in 1945, they were flooded out of much of their ancestral land without compensation and lost many villages, burial sites and sacred sites beneath the Lake, a loss that still causes the Winnemem people much heartache to this day. This latest proposal would deluge and destroy much more of Winnemem people's ancestral land, devastate the tribe's cultural heritage, and prevent them from obseerving their traditional spiritual practices.
Representative Jim Costa, of Fresno, has introduced H.R. 4125, co-signed by a number of California Democratic Congressmen, to raise the dam. The bill makes no mention of the U.S. government's standing debt to the Winnemem people. For these reasons I am writing to urge you to support Winnemem Wintu cultural survival by opposing this bill.
Why is this important?
In the words of Chief Caleen Sisk, Tribal Chief and Traditional Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe: "When the Creator put all of the creatures out through our Sacred Spring on Bohem Puyuk (Mt. Shasta), Salmon gave her voice to Human. In return we are committed to use our voice to always speak up for Salmon. We are the people of the Winnemem (McCloud) River watershed on the South side of Mt Shasta, in Northern California. In our language Winnemem Wintu translates to Middle Water People as the McCloud River is bounded by the Upper Sacramento to the West and the Pit River to the East. We were born from water, we are of the water, and we fight to protect it. We continue to pray and hold ceremony at our traditional sacred places that remain accessible to us. Our lands were taken, without compensation, when the Shasta Dam was completed in 1945 and flooded our beloved river home.
"This latest proposal would inundate or damage more than 40 sacred sites, including our Coming of Age ceremony grounds on the Winnemem Waywaqat (McCloud River). Representative Jim Costa, of Fresno, has introduced a bill, H.R. 4125,co-signed by a number of California Democratic Congressmen, to raise the dam. No mention of the standing debt to our people.
"Senator Diane Feinstein also supports the dam raise and will probably introduce a bill authorize it soon. You can make a difference to support Winnemem Wintu cultural survival by telling Congress not to authorize the proposal to raise Shasta Dam by 18.5 feet."
Learn more about why the dam raise must be stopped at www.shastadamraise.com and www.winnememwintu.us
"This latest proposal would inundate or damage more than 40 sacred sites, including our Coming of Age ceremony grounds on the Winnemem Waywaqat (McCloud River). Representative Jim Costa, of Fresno, has introduced a bill, H.R. 4125,co-signed by a number of California Democratic Congressmen, to raise the dam. No mention of the standing debt to our people.
"Senator Diane Feinstein also supports the dam raise and will probably introduce a bill authorize it soon. You can make a difference to support Winnemem Wintu cultural survival by telling Congress not to authorize the proposal to raise Shasta Dam by 18.5 feet."
Learn more about why the dam raise must be stopped at www.shastadamraise.com and www.winnememwintu.us