Winnemem Wintu tribal members have embarked on an unusual and historic journey in an effort to bring Chinook salmon back to the McCloud River.

On March 19, they traveled halfway across the globe to New Zealand, where the U.S. government once sent Chinook eggs gathered from the McCloud River. The completion of Shasta Dam in the 1940s resulted in the obstruction of seasonal salmon runs in the McCloud.

The Winnemem hope to restore the salmon by stopping the enlargement of Shasta Dam and having a waterway installed that would allow reintroduced salmon to reach the remaining 200 miles of cold water pools and historic spawning grounds critical to their survival.

In New Zealand, they will join with Maori leaders and hold a ceremony culminating with a four-day “nur chonas winyupus,” or middle water salmon dance, which is intended to assure the salmon that the Winnemem are still caring for them and their home river. The Winnemem plan to petition local fish and game officials to return some salmon eggs to the McCloud.

Read about the Winnemem Wintu and their journey to New Zealand in this major New York Times story from March 20. Learn more about the Winnemem and their ancestral homeland in our McCloud River Watershed sacred site report, and you can also follow Winnemem Headman Mark Franco’s blogs for details about their New Zealand journey and other issues.