Press Release from the Winnemem Wintu Tribe:
July 27, 2021 marked the 80th anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signing of the Central Valley Project Indian Land Acquisition Act (CVPILAA). Eighty years later, with a Native American serving, for the first time, as Secretary of the Interior, it is time for the federal government to implement the Act’s requirements to compensate the Winnemem Wintu Tribe for the harm caused by the construction and operation of Shasta Dam.
Shasta Dam holds the largest reservoir in California and a key part of the Central Valley Project. Congress knew that building the dam would harm the Winnemem Wintu and passed the CVPILAA. But eight decades later, federal agencies have still not implemented the Act’s requirements to compensate the Native Americans who lost their land when Shasta Dam was constructed and the reservoir filled. That compensation, however, has never been provided.
The Act also directed the federal government to relocate tribal burials along the McCloud River to a cemetery to be held in trust for the “appropriate tribe or family.” The Winnemem Wintu Tribe is that tribe. This requirement has also not been met.
“Eighty years after Congress acted, it is time for the Department of the Interior to compensate the tribe for the harm done by Shasta Dam,” said Caleen Sisk, the chief and spiritual leader of the Winnemem Wintu tribe. “We are hopeful that the appointment of Deb Haaland as Secretary will make the Department more attentive to the federal government’s broken promises to tribes. Eight decades is long enough to wait for justice.”
The Winnemem Wintu name means “middle water people” in the Tribe’s language – a reference to the Tribe’s McCloud River homeland. Shasta Dam flooded miles of the McCloud River, much of the Tribe’s homeland, tribal burials and dozens of sacred sites. Shasta Dam has prevented the Tribe’s prized winter-run Chinook salmon from reaching the McCloud River.
Irresponsible operations of Shasta Dam have also harmed the winter-run and fall-run, both of which now spawn in the Sacramento River below the dam. Finally, the Trump Administration’s top water infrastructure project in the nation was a proposal to raise Shasta Dam, which would flood more of the Tribe’s traditional homeland and further harm the salmon that are central to the Tribe’s religion and culture.
Federal agencies did relocate tribal burial sites along the McCloud River, before this land was inundated by Shasta Dam. However, the Bureau of Land Management currently controls the cemetery. BLM, unlike the Bureau of Indian Affairs, does not have the authority to hold land in trust for the Tribe. In addition, BLM does not allow ongoing burials by the Tribe.
“Despite the requirements of federal law, the federal government still does not acknowledge that this is our cemetery,” said Caleen Sisk. “They even tell us that we cannot conduct our burials in our own cemetery.”
“The injustices caused by Shasta Dam are not a distant memory to our people,” added Caleen Sisk. “Shasta Dam is still damaging our traditional religion and our culture. As demonstrated by George Floyd’s murder and growing attacks on Asian Americans, our nation has a long way to go to ensure equal justice for all. Ensuring justice for Native Americans is another place where the United States can still live up to its values.”
For additional information: Gary Mulcahy - gary@ranchriver.com, (916) 214-8493 Caleen Sisk – caleenwintu@gmail.com, (530) 229-4096