Winnemem Wintu Tribe to meet with BIA on federal recognition

Tuesday, July 10, 2012  

Caleen Sisk, the chief and spiritual leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe of California, will meet with the Bureau of Indian Affairs tomorrow.

The tribe believes it was recognized by an unratified treaty and by an act of Congress. But the BIA doesn't have the tribe on the list of federally recognized entities.

Sisk has been fasting in protest of the tribe's lack of recognition. She said the tribe isn't able to protect its sacred sites or hold its ceremonies in private due to its status.

"That campground was my grandfather’s land that they took and never compensated us. They can’t even show the papers that show how they got it," Sisk said in a press release, referring to an area of the McCloud River now controlled by the federal government.

Get the Story:
Federal government officials to meet with Winnemem tribe (The Redding Record-Searchlight 7/9)

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