War dance planned at Shasta Dam

California - The Winnemem Wintu Tribe of Shasta County plans to hold a war dance at Shasta Dam starting Thursday to protest raising the height of the dam.
The war dance begins at dusk with the lighting of a ceremonial fire and will continue with drumming, dancing and prayers until Tuesday.

The Winnemem, whose ancestral home is the McCloud River, are protesting a proposal to raise the height of the dam up to 18 1/2 feet, which would further flood sacred sites along the river, said Caleen Sisk, the tribes chief and spiritual leader.

Sisk said the Winnemem were displaced from their homes along the river when the dam was built, and raising the dam will further damage cultural sites.

“Any raising of the dam, even a few feet, will flood some of our last remaining sacred sites on the McCloud River — sites we still use today,” Sisk said. “We can’t be Winnemem any place else but the McCloud River. The dam raise is a form of cultural genocide.” 


cuddle from Scripps Media