We need your support for to hold a Coming of Age ceremony in peace and dignity

Our next Coming of Age ceremony is coming up in July. Please watch and share this video to the left, and let Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell (ttidwell@fs.fed.us) know that you expect his agency to work with us to avoid a repeat of his underlings' disgraceful behavior of last year.
Chief Sisk receives Marisa as a Winnemem woman after Marisa swam across the river during her ceremony.

Coming of Age Ceremony food donations

June 15, 2013 / Make A Comment / Uncategorized

Our Coming of Age ceremony for Alicia Scholfield will be held July 20-23 at the McCloud Bridge campground in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Dancing will be every day.

The cook tent is open for the duration of the ceremony, and we will feed ceremony guests. Be sure to bring snacks and please bring a food donation (list below). Try to bring your own plates and silverware or

Chief Sisk receives Marisa as a Winnemem woman after Marisa swam across the river during her ceremony.

Press Release: Winnemem Wintu Seek Volunteers, Donations to Hold Coming of Age Ceremony in Peace and Dignity

June 10, 2013 / Make A Comment / Uncategorized

The Winnemem Wintu tribe is seeking volunteers and donations to help enforce a half-mile closure of the McCloud River to maintain the peace and dignity of their upcoming Coming of Age ceremony for 16-year-old Alicia Scholfield July 20-23.

Previous ceremonies have faced documented harassment, but the U.S. Forest Service, which now manages the former Winnemem village site where the ceremony takes place, has yet to respond to the tribe’s list of needs and requirements to hold a ceremony.

Winnemem Wintu – The Middle Water People

We are a traditional tribe who inhabits our ancestral territory from Mt. Shasta down the McCloud River watershed. When the Shasta Dam was constructed during World War II, it flooded our home and blocked the salmon runs.

The salmon are an integral part of our lifeway and of a healthy McCloud River watershed. We believe that when the last salmon is gone, humans will be gone too. Our fight to return the salmon to the McCloud River is no less than a fight to save the Winnemem Wintu Tribe.

As salmon people and middle water people we advocate for all aspects of clean water and the restoration of salmon to their natural spawning grounds.

Sawal Mem, Sawal Suhana (Sacred Water, Sacred Life)

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