Indigenous Affairs

Back from the Dead: Shasta County Fountain Wind Project Could Be Approved Under New California Bill Designed To Fast Track Renewable Energy

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June 11, 2023

In 2021, Shasta County officials definitively rejected the Fountain Wind mega-energy project, twice. But now a new California law may allow Texas-based ConnectGen to build the mammoth wind turbine project anyway, despite local decisions based on years of complex environmental studies, hours of testimonies, and in-depth Tribal consultations. Fountain Wind is poised to become a first test of how much the state is willing to bypass local and Tribal governments to meet its clean energy goals.

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Shasta County Poised To Provide Inspiration To California Educators Seeking To Implement New Statewide Indian Education Act
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January 21, 2023

A state law passed last fall encourages districts to develop culturally appropriate history lessons. The groundbreaking work of Shasta County's American Indian Advisory (AIA) is providing a model for districts seeking to implement the new law statewide. Now an additional $1.1 million in grant funds will take the AIA's work even further.

With Closing of Lim’s Café, Local Native Community Mourns a Beloved Sanctuary of Cross-Cultural Connection
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December 12, 2022

For many years Lim’s Café on Market Street was known as an oasis of hospitality for the Native community. Its closure this September marked the end of a remarkable space of connection created by two communities with complicated histories. Their collective pasts contain more intersections and encounters than is widely known.

State of the Tribe: Redding Rancheria Highlights Tribal Sovereignty, Health Care Services and Community Investments
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October 19, 2022

At the Redding Rancheria’s first State of the Tribe address in three years, CEO Tracey Edwards emphasized the Tribe’s status as a sovereign nation seeking increased self-determination and autonomy. She also outlined the Tribe’s role in the greater community, especially in the arenas of health care and economic development.

Federal Project Managers Halt Redding-Area Construction Threatening Ancestral Village Site
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September 29, 2022

Construction on a Sacramento River trail expansion south of Redding was halted after Wintu officials investigated at the site and found that construction had exposed cultural items and was occurring close to burial sites. After weeks of negotiations with federal and city project managers, Wintu people have secured a culturing monitoring contract with the Federal Highway Administration to help protect their ancestors’ village during the trail expansion.

Building Shasta Dam Flooded Out A California Tribe. Why Are They Still Not Included in the Dam’s History?
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September 18, 2022

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates Shasta Dam, uses its Visitor Center to share a comprehensive history of the Dam's construction and purpose. What that history omits is any mention of the Winnemem Wintu, a local Tribe that was flooded out of their homes along the McCloud River when the Dam was built. Leaving the Tribe out of the Visitor Center's official narrative is intentional, scholars and Tribal members say, because it helps deny legal claims to their ancestral waters and lands now. In recent years, the Visitor Center has become the center of ongoing tensions over how the Dam’s history is told.

Court Rules Redding Must Undo Illegal Bechelli Land Sale But Won’t Be Required To Pay Tribe’s Legal Fees
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September 14, 2022

The city sold a small parcel of land in 2020, effectively blocking the Redding Rancheria’s access to a piece of land they plan to use for casino development. The Tribe sued and on Monday the court issued a final ruling saying that the city must revoke its earlier land sale but will not be required to pay the Tribe’s legal fees.

Tribal Picnic at Shasta Dam Triggered Federal Security Response
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September 9, 2022

In July, Run4Salmon participants say they were discriminated against by Dam staff who closed the visitor center and activated increased security protocols in response to their presence. A federal official who manages the Dam said security's actions were necessary because the group had previously caused a disruption by demonstrating on site. The incident is the latest chapter in ongoing tension between the Tribe and federal officials over the erasure of Tribal history from Dam visitor center narratives.

Redding Rancheria’s Third Annual Big Time Restores a Healing Cultural Practice For Locals
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July 26, 2022

More than 1500 people attended the Redding Rancheria’s recent Big Time which provided an opportunity for local Native and non-Native community members to socialize and experience traditional dances. For thousands of years, Big Time gatherings have been essential to cement relations among tribal neighbors as well as to pray for harmony and healing. But Big Times have long been absent locally due to Shasta County’s history of violent persecution of Indigenous cultures.

“We’re Praying That They Remember These Waters”: Supported By Tribal Ceremony, Salmon Eggs Return To The McCloud River After 80 Year Absence
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July 15, 2022

On July 11 the Winnemem Wintu Tribe danced, sang and prayed for 20,000 endangered salmon eggs as they were returned to the McCloud River. The action is part of new collaboration with government agencies and represented a watershed moment for the Tribe. Hot Sacramento River temperatures threaten winter-run Chinook, but government scientists hope acclimating the eggs to the glacial waters of the McCloud River, their ancestral home, will help them survive.

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