Sample letterSenator Barbara Boxer Dear Senator Boxer: I write today to urge you to rectify a grave injustice and help prevent an environmental catastrophe. The Winnemem Wintu, a Northern California Tribe, rely on access to the McCloud River to perform tribal ceremonies and maintain their culture. But a long, and continuing, history of broken promises imperils both the Winnemem and the McCloud River. When the Shasta Dam was constructed in the 1940’s, over 90 percent of the Tribe’s ancestral territory along the lower McCloud was flooded, including many sacred places and burial sites. The 1937 Central Valley Indian Lands Acquisition Act promised the Winnemem “like lands” in compensation for the lands they lost, a cemetery held in trust, and funds to rebuild tribal infrastructure. To this day, none of the promises within this Act of Congress have been fulfilled. The US Bureau of Reclamation is now investigating raising Shasta Dam. This would flood some of the last remaining Winnemem sacred sites. It would destroy miles of pristine river ecosystem and cost taxpayers billions of dollars for water storage that is not needed. Only with restoration of federal recognition can the Winnemem ensure their places of prayer and ceremony, their cemeteries and the beautiful McCloud River are not lost. In the 1980’s the Winnemem were mysteriously dropped from the Bureau of Indian Affair’s list of federally recognized Tribes, despite years of recognition. In 2004, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell introduced a bill that would restore recognition to the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. This effort is a technical clarification that does not require drafting new legislation or changing policies about federal recognition. You can prevent the flooding of an entire culture today by taking the following urgent actions:
Your action on these important matters is appreciated. Thank you very much. Sincerely, |