Salmonid Restoration Federation
April 28 - May 1, 2026
Redding, California

Restoring Salmon To Restore a People: The Winnemem Wintu Speak On Rematriation to the Winnemem Waywaket

Session Coordinator: Chief Caleen Sisk, Winnemem Wintu Tribe/Indian Cultural Organization
 
In our language, Winnemem Wintu means “middle water people.” Since time immemorial, we have served as the ecological and spiritual caretakers of our ancestral watershed and its bountiful salmon runs. The Winnemem Waywaket (McCloud River in Northern California) is the center of our universe. The construction of the Shasta Dam interrupted our people's way of life and the migratory return of our Nur (Chinook salmon.) We consider the dam to be a weapon of mass destruction that flooded our village and sacred sites. As the salmon face extinction, our survival as a people is in peril - if the salmon do not exist, neither will we.
 
The Winnemem Wintu Tribe has catalyzed the formation of an unlikely and influential group of stakeholders including governmental agencies, farmers, scientists, environmentalists, and social justice advocates, who are united in the spirit of reconciliation to restore the Winnemem Waywaket (McCloud River) as California’s cold-water stronghold for Nur (Chinook salmon) within the next 10 years. This project is part of a suite of projects that implements the Tribe’s vision for a Waywaket ecosystem that restores key functions extinguished by colonization.
 
Working side-by-side to return ancestral lands and the ancestors themselves (Nur) to the river, we can show it is possible to heal wounds, and to create resilience for human and natural communities stretching from Buliyum Puyuuk (Mount Shasta) through to California's Central Valley in the face of climate change. This session focuses on the Winnemem Wintu's leadership and Indigenous science as the backbone of this monumental and essential restoration effort.

Potential Agenda
 
The Need To Rematriate Nur to the Winnemem Waywaket (Overview of all of Winnemem Wintu's salmon rematriation and restoration efforts), Chief Caleen Sisk
 
Indigenous Science From The Winnemem Waywaket (Observations From Winter Run Restoration at the McCloud River), Marine Sisk and Tribal Cultural Resource Specialists
 
Why Land Back Is A Part of Salmon Back, Michael "Pom" Preston
 
Opportunities For Agencies and Institutions To Improve Relationships With Indigenous Communities (Lessons Learned From Co-Management & Co-Stewardship), Chief Caleen Sisk, Marine Sisk, and Rebekah Olstad
 

McCloud River