PLEASE PASS
THIS TO ALL YAHOO,MSN,AOL GROUPS
AS WELL AS ANY & EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND ALL TRIBES!
DON'T WAIT UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE!
This Tragedy Must Be Averted at All Costs.
I have included below My Letter to all the
Parties involved in the Production of this
Project. I encourage Everyone to do the Same.
This type of Reckless disregard for Sacred
Lands must stop.
YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DO SO!
LET THEM HEAR YOU!
SHASTA LAKE
Tribe sees dam plan as cultural genocide
Raising lake level would drown sites sacred to the Winnemem Wintu
Sunday, February 27, 2005
A plan to raise Shasta Dam could help
ease California's water crisis, but a band of California Indians says
the project will obliterate their culture and way of life.
The dam proposal is a centerpiece
strategy of CalFed, the joint federal and state agency empowered to
distribute the state's water to its various stakeholders.
The idea is to raise the dam 16 feet or
more, vastly increasing the holding capacity of Shasta Lake -- and the
state's water supply -- for a relatively small investment. Raising the
dam by even 16 feet could boost Shasta's storage capacity by 300,000
acre-feet -- enough to supply 900,000 families with water for a year.
Agriculture and municipalities are
bullish on the proposal. California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein,
who was instrumental in securing recent key authorizing legislation for
CalFed, is supporting feasibility studies for the plan.
But fisheries advocates and
environmentalists generally are opposed to the project, saying it would
provide no benefit for downstream fisheries and wildlife.
And for the Winnemem Wintu -- a tribe of
about 125 members that historically occupied the McCloud River drainage
-- a higher dam would be an unmitigated catastrophe.
Raising the dam would submerge several
sacred sites permanently, tribal members say. And because these sites
are essential to the tribe's religious ceremonies, the project, they
say, amounts to cultural genocide.
"We feel like Catholics would feel if it
was decided that flooding the Sistine Chapel was a good public works
project," said Caleen Sisk-Franco, the tribe's leader. "To us, the
project would be the worst kind of sacrilege."
Sisk-Franco made her comments at Kaibai,
an ancient Winnemem village site on the McCloud River arm of Shasta
Lake. According to a U.S. Forest Service archaeologist in the area, the
Winnemem may have lived here for more than 2, 000 years.
Typically, Kaibai is underwater for much
of the year, appearing only after the reservoir has been drawn down in
the summer. But due to unusually heavy releases from Shasta Dam, the
tribe has had access to Kaibai for months. The McCloud is running free
and clear past the ancient village site.
If Shasta Lake is raised by 16 feet,
Kaibai probably will disappear forever.
Sisk-Franco gently placed her hand on a
large rock cratered with numerous mortar holes for grinding.
"We hold the puberty rites for our kids
here," Sisk-Franco said. "We use this rock every year for grinding
medicinal plants -- just as our ancestors have done, for hundreds of
years."
She pointed to a huge boulder across the
river and downstream from the grinding rocks.
"That's Children's Rock," she said. "Our
children are taught to climb there in our initiation ceremonies, to
gain confidence for later observances, when they have to climb --
that."
She turned, and nodded at a steep, rocky
peak looming over Kaibai.
"That's Hamaleokus," she said. "Our boys
are taken up there to fast when they come of age. When the white men
came into the McCloud drainage, we flew a flag at the top of
Hamaleokus, to say, 'We're still here.' "
Mark Franco, a tribal member and
Sisk-Franco's husband, said the tribe has tried to contact CalFed, the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Feinstein about its concerns, but have
received little substantive feedback.
"It's clear they don't really want to be
bothered with us," Franco said.
But representatives of the agencies
involved in the dam proposal say they have no intention of ignoring the
Winnemem.
Keith Coolidge, a spokesman for CalFed,
said raising Shasta Dam is one of five new surface water storage
projects contemplated for the state.
"The participating agencies will look at
the comparative merits (of the different projects) and should arrive at
a decision by the end of 2006," Coolidge said. "I'm sure the concerns
of the Winnemem will be addressed as the Shasta Dam proposal goes
through the process."
Jeff McCracken, a spokesman for the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation, the agency that administers the Shasta Dam and
reservoir, said all stakeholders will be heard before a decision is
made.
"Where the Winnemem are concerned, we
will do cultural surveys and look at the impacts that could arise,"
McCracken said. "This isn't 50 years ago, when whole towns were moved
for water projects without a second thought."
But Franco said the Winnemem generally
have found government agencies unresponsive to their concerns over
sacred sites -- not just the Bureau of Reclamation and CalFed, but also
the U.S. Forest Service.
He cited one recent point of conflict:
Dekkas, a steep hillside site near the McCloud River used by the tribe
for a variety of rites, including a spring ceremony honoring Winnemem
elders who have survived the winter.
On a tour of Dekkas, Franco and
Sisk-Franco pointed out a large number of brush piles that had been
stacked recently, a fuel reduction effort carried out by the Forest
Service. The brush was all old-growth manzanita, Franco noted, and had
been part of a grove sacred to the tribe.
"This is where we get our wood for our
ceremonial fires," he said. "Now - - it's all gone."
Franco shook his head, visibly upset.
"This has completely desecrated Dekkas," he said. "We had explicit
agreements with the Forest Service that they would stay away from this
site."
Next to a gate blocking a rutted road
that led to Dekkas, Sisk-Franco pointed out a rock that had been
covered by manzanita, and was now ringed by stumps.
"There was a rattlesnake that lived
there," she said, "the guardian to Dekkas. I doubt he's there now --
it's too exposed. Dekkas is unprotected."
Jennings Sharon Heywood, the supervisor
for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, said contract crews working for
the agency cut the brush around Dekkas.
"Our original information told us those
bushes were far enough away from the ceremonial site to have no
impact," Heywood said. "That said, it seems to me this was an obvious
error, and I don't know why the tribe wasn't contacted, but we intend
to get out there and work this out with them."
Some government representatives suggest
the tribe's problems could be solved if members were more responsive to
federal procedure. Most significantly, they say, the tribe has refused
to pursue official recognition from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs,
the federal agency that deals with tribal issues.
Howard Gantman, a spokesman for
Feinstein, said the senator's office has written to the bureau seeking
a clarification of the Winnemem's status.
"They informed us the tribe had provided
insufficient documentation for recognition," said Gantman, who added
that Feinstein understands the concerns of the Winnemem and wants to
help.
Franco said the tribe is not actively
seeking recognition from the bureau. The federal government, he said,
recognized the tribe in 1851, when Winnemem representatives signed the
Cottonwood Treaty, an agreement that granted the tribe a 35-square-mile
reservation on their traditional lands. Federal Indian agent O.M.
Wozencraft, representing the United States, also signed the treaty.
But the treaty was left unratified by
Congress at the behest of the California delegation, Franco said.
Tribal members ultimately received some
land allotments in the McCloud River area, Franco said, but the
holdings were condemned under later legislation that ultimately allowed
for the construction of Shasta Lake.
"We can document a history of federal
recognition followed by broken promises," Franco said, "so we're
standing by the original 1851 treaty. It's a valid document, and it's
unrealistic to think we would get through any new process before our
sacred sites go underwater forever."
This
is the letter I sent Out Today! What Will You Do?
To Whom It May Concern:
How dare you assume that
anyone Native or Non-Native would allow the State
of California or The U.S.Energy Commission to just
have carte-blanche over our already threatened
environment and Native Sacred Lands.
I and Many others will make our protest known to
the media, all political offices involved and to
the voters in California and the Nation.
Their is NO reason for an expansion of the
Shasta Lake Dam except pure GREED and to STEAL more
land from the Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
What's wrong with
you people? Raping, Murdering and Stealing their
Land, People and Heritage wasn't enough the first
time.
The individuals responsible for this action of
treachery will not go un-noticed and our voices
will be heard. May the Creator forgive your
transgressions against the earth & humanity.
I have sent this same letter to the Local and
National Press. I have also sent a copy to the
necessary U.S.Government officials.
Indian By Birth,
American By Attrition,
Thomas Greywolf Atkins
Chickahominy/Mattaponi/U.S.Citizen
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/American_Indian_Injustice
These are the places I sent this Letter:
You May Feel free to use this letter and
put your name in place of
mine.
U.S.Government Officials: gale_norton@ios.doi.gov, craig_manson@ios.doi.gov, senator@akaka.senate.gov, senator@biden.senate.gov, russell_feingold@feingold.senate.gov,
senator@yulee.senate.gov,
senator@fremont.senate.gov,
senator@mallory.senate.gov,
senator@weller.senate.gov,
senator@broderick.senate.gov,
senator@welch.senate.gov,
senator@kennedy.senate.gov,
senator@boxer.senate.gov,
senatorlott@lott.senate.gov,
senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov,
senator@clinton.senate.gov,
senator@shelby.senate.gov,
senator_lugar@lugar.senate.gov,
senator@mikulski.senate.gov,
senator@snowe.senat.gov,
senator@rockefeller.senate.gov,
arlen_specter@specter.senate.gov,
senator@santorum.senate.gov,
senator@frist.senate.gov,
senator@dole.senate.gov,
senator@mitchell.senate.gov,
senator@muskie.senate.gov,
senator@reid.senate.gov,
senator@moynihan.senate.gov,
senator@damato.senator.gov,
sf.nancy@mail.house.gov,
eric.cantor@mail.house.gov,
elijah.cummings@mail.house.com,
maxine.waters@mail.house.gov,
henry.waxman@mail.house.gov,
wayne.gilchrest@mail.house.gov
California Governor
&
Secretary of State :
http://www.ss.ca.gov/cgi-bin/print_form.cgi
http://www.govmail.ca.gov/
governor@governor.ca.gov
Federal Energy Commission
&
Dept. Of The Interior : secretary@hq.doe.gov
http://www.doi.gov/feedback.html
GreenPeace :
supporter.services@int.greenpeace.org
info@wdc.greenpeace.org
California & National
News : info@ap.org, nationalnews@herald.com, investigations@herald.com,
national@latimes.com, sam@okit.com, lizg@okit.com, indianz@indianz.com, cshaw@nypost.com, abramowitz@washpost.com, barkinr@washpost.com, mike.adams@baltsun.com, kevin.cowherd@baltsun.com,
pmilton@patuxent.com, skelly@patuxent.com, jimlee@lcniofmd.com, carriem@lcniofmd.com, 48hours@cbsnews.com, 60minutes@cbsnews.com, 60ll@cbsnews.com, earlyshow@cbsnews.com, weekends@cbsnews.com, today@nbc.com, dateline@nbc.com, oprah.com@oprah.com, v_services@montelshow.com,
feedback@montanapbs.org,
kufm@montanapbs.org, info@libbymt.com, editor@tobaccovalleynews.com,
westnews@libby.org, op-ed@latimes.com, Studiob@foxnews.com, Newswatch@foxnews.com, Foxreport@foxnews.com, chet.barfield@uniontrib.com
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?39
Bureau of Reclamation: http://www.usbr.gov
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