Tribe plans to do war dance over ceremony

The Winnemem Wintu Tribe is planning a war dance to protest what it sees as the U.S. Forest Service's foot-dragging on its request to close a section of Shasta Lake for a girls' coming-out ceremony this summer.

From a press release forwarded by Craig Tucker, the Karuk Tribe's Klamath coordinator:

U.S. Forest Service Region 5 Forester Randy Moore has missed his May 1 deadline to respond to the Winnemem Wintu’s request for a mandatory river closure to protect their Coming of Age ceremony this summer. The tribe has had not received any intention of Mr. Moore to respond in a timely fashion, and because the government's legal process is clearly a dead end, the Winnemem will now hold a H'up Chonas, or War Dance, in the near future to defend their cultural rites in a traditional way.

Previous Coming of Age ceremonies have been disrupted by drunken recreational boaters motoring through the site and heckling the tribe with racial slurs.

"I am saddened that Moore does not have the courage to do what's right," Sisk said. "We lost all our land when they built Shasta Dam, and now all we want is four days of peace and dignity for our ceremony, which is vital to the social fabric of our tribe. A peaceful ceremony is our right, and we are not accepting anything short of that."

The tribe is placing a call to action. During the War Dance, the tribe, hundreds of tribal members from around the west coast and allies will gather in solidarity to ensure their sacred ceremony will proceed unhindered as it has for thousands of years before the Forest Service existed. For more information, contact the tribe at: winnememwintutribe@gmail.com. Details will be on the Winnemem Wintu web site soon.