Protesters Urged to Pray for Strength at Last Week's Salmon Ceremony at Sogorea Te

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Challenges. Discussion »

VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA - Last Saturday over a dozen members of the Winnemem Wintu tribe held a ceremony for the Salmon at Sogorea Te (Glen Cove), and blessed the sacred grounds that American Indians from the San Francisco Bay Area and their supporters have been standing upon in prayer for the past eight weeks.

Winnemem Wintu tribe held a ceremony for the Salmon at Sogorea Te

Over 100 people participated in the ceremony, held on a bluff overlooking the waters of the Carquinez Strait.

The homeland of the Winnemem Wintu is centered around the McCloud River in Northern California, which for thousands of years was one of the most fertile salmon spawning rivers in the West. In the 1940s, construction of the Shasta Dam resulted in the flooding of Winnemem villages and sacred places, and effectively wiped out the McCloud Salmon by blocking their upriver passage. The Winnemem are currently battling a proposal to further raise the Shasta Dam, and are working passionately to restore their ancestral relationship with Nur, the Salmon.

On their long journey from the ocean to Winnemem Wintu territory, the Salmon must swim up the Carquinez Strait, passing Glen Cove and entering the estuary formed by the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta. Caleen Sisk-Franco, Winnemem Wintu Chief and Spiritual Leader, explained why the Winnemem were holding a ceremony for at Glen Cove:

Our Future

"This is the estuary that we rely upon. It's really kind of a magical place. Here, the salmon change their whole way of being, from salt water to fresh water. Our salmon are swimming through here, and so we should do our part: to stand up and speak for the salmon. That's why we were given voices.

We are working to open up the areas that the salmon need to return. This is one of the very sensitive areas that need to be woken up and prayed for… so that the salmon may return.'

Caleen Sisk-Franco explained that the Winnemem Wintu are also connected with the Sogorea Te area through the water, the salmon, and because historically, this North shore of the Carquniez Strait is the southern boundary of the Winnemem traditional use area. She expressed that "We want to help out as much as we can, but we are 'unrecognized' too (Federally unrecognized, as are the Ohlone people), so no one listens to us either!"

For thousands of years, the people have been coming here. They came for a reason. And we've got to keep coming here, for the same reasons. Because this place is alive. The old people are here."

Pine nuts from the high mountains were handed out to supporters, who were urged to continue standing by the Native people who are leading the struggle, regardless of however the opposition might attempt to discredit them.

"The work you're doing is hard. I want to affirm that it is important and right. Pray, so that your message to the world is clear, and we get what we want. Pray so that you have the strength to take whatever is coming your way, and then turn it around for the good," Chief Sisk-Franco urged those gathered last Saturday.

posted June 10, 2011 7:00 am et