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Run4Salmon Curriculum

Lesson 6: Speaking for the

Salmon: Run4Salmon

Visual Aids

Standards: HSS 4.2 & 4.4, NGSS4-ESS3-1, CCSS SL4.2 & 4.3, W4.8

©Run4Salmon 2023

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Table of Contents

Run4Salmon Slideshow Part 6
Dancing Salmon Home Video Clip: Bringing the Salmon Home
Activity 2 Reading Excerpt
Run4Salmon Slideshow Part 6 continued
Map of Run4Salmon Route
Writing Task

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The Middle River

Dream Run

We dream of the day when Salmon returns to the home waters and brings its gift of

life and salvation for the people who depend on its many gifts

to keep waters pure, clean,

and alive.

©Run4Salmon 2023

Words & artwork by Chief Caleen Sisk

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Think about what has happened to our homeland in the last 200 years:

the fish hatchery, the mining, and the Shasta Dam flooding our land and blocking the Nur.

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In 2004, when the US Bureau of Reclamation proposed raising Shasta Dam 18.5 feet, we went to the dam to conduct the H’up Chonas, a four-day war dance ceremony that had not been done since 1887.

©Run4Salmon 2023

Photo by Jan Stürmann

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©Run4Salmon 2023

The New York Times covered it, and we soon got a call from the Maori of New Zealand.

Remember the salmon eggs

that were sent out from the

fish hatchery in the 1800s?

Our Nur survived in one place: the Rakaia River in New Zealand.

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©Run4Salmon 2023

The glacial waters of Mt. Aoraki in New Zealand are similar to the glacial waters of Buliyum Puyuuk (Mt. Shasta).

The Nur are coexisting in these waters with the Maori’s sacred eel. Now, the Maori want to help us bring our salmon home.

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©Run4Salmon 2023

In 2010, the Maori invited us and gave permission to hold ceremony for the salmon.

Imagine what it would be like to see a relative, a loved one you have missed for over 75 years.

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To bring the Nur back to the Winnemem Waywaket, we propose building a fish passageway around the dam.

Little Cow Creek, a small tributary of

the Sacramento River, would provide

the alternate route. Little Cow Creek connects with Dry Creek.

The fish passage facility could be built between Dry Creek and the Shasta Lake reservoir, which would enable the salmon to reach the upper arm of the Winnemem Waywaket (McCloud River).

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Unlike other restoration projects that

use trucks or water canons to transport fish, a swimway would be a closer simulation of salmon’s natural migration, causing less stress and enabling them

to restore nutrients to the waters

and land along the way.

We believe that the salmon in New Zealand, the descendants of our Nur,

are the best salmon for this project. Genetically and spiritually, they are the true salmon of the Winnemem Waywaket.

©Run4Salmon 2023

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Meanwhile, the salmon are waiting, and if they cannot make the journey, then we will do it for them. In 2016, Chief Caleen Sisk,

the Winnemem Wintu tribe, Indigenous allies, and supporters started the annual Run4Salmon.

©Run4Salmon 2023

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Run4Salmon is a prayerful journey, led by Chief Caleen Sisk, to restore our salmon runs and to protect our waters and Indigenous lifeways. Participants embark on a 300-mile trek that follows the historical journey of the salmon. From 2016 to 2019, the journey followed the upstream migration of adult Chinook salmon from the ocean to the mountain. Since 2020, the journey has been reversed, following downstream migration salmon fry would take from Buliyum Puyuuk to the Pacific Ocean. Along the Run, we advocate for our salmon relatives, for the health of the rivers, and for all the waters of the world, which are connected. This is a ceremonial way of bringing salmon home.

©Run4Salmon 2023

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The Run4Salmon always begins with ceremony.

In the downstream migration route, we begin at our sacred mountain

and hold ceremony on our ancestral homelands.

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In 2019, Run4Salmon began with the Kumeyaay in Southern California, who invited us to dance, sing, and pray for the ocean waters and life, especially our whale relatives who also depend on salmon.

©Run4Salmon 2023

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Paddlers set prayers down along the Winnemem Waywaket and across the Shasta Lake reservoir.

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Meanwhile, some participants depart on horseback and bikes to set prayers down by land.

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Yurok, Karuk, Hupa and Wintu relatives join runners to set prayers down along the Trinity River, which is also impacted by the dam. We come together for a day of action at the Shasta Dam and Visitor Center.

©Run4Salmon 2023

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©Run4Salmon 2023

Runners relay along Dry Creek and Little Cow Creek, connecting Shasta Lake reservoir to the confluence of the Nomtipom Waywaket (Sacramento River).

As we run, we set prayers down for

the health of these waters and for the Nur to find their way to this alternate route around the dam.

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At the confluence of Cow Creek and Nomtipom Waywaket (Sacramento River), we hold ceremony with our Yana relatives in this special place of merging waters—a hopeful turning point for the Nur.

©Run4Salmon 2023

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We set paddle prayers into the water of the Nomtipom Waywaket (Sacramento River) through

Southern Wintu, Maidu, and Patwin lands.

©Run4Salmon 2023

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Paddlers and cyclists help connect our prayer journey with Wappo and Pomo relatives along

Lake Berryessa and Putah Creek. The waters of

their homelands are also missing the salmon.

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We follow protocol with other tribes as we enter their traditional territories along the way. Here, we are

welcomed into Sacramento in an arrival ceremony

with Wilton Rancheria.

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As we near the confluence of the American River and Delta pumps, Chief Caleen surveys the health of the waters. Government officials are often invited on this section to discuss dangers like natural gas pipelines, oil pumps, and pesticides from agricultural runoff that threaten the waters, plants, and animals that depend on the health of this river system.

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In the Bay-Delta, we walk as close to water as possible and pray about the threats and concerns of the area: oil refineries, industrial pollution, the Delta Tunnel Project, and the Delta smelt—a smaller fish that is an important food source for salmon but is now on the brink of extinction.

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We paddle the Bay-Delta waters with our Lisjan Ohlone relatives to their ceremonial grounds at Sogorea Te’ (Glencove, Vallejo).

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On behalf of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation, Corrina Gould gives her permission for the Winnemem Wintu to hold ceremony, acknowledging how we are connected in our prayers for the waters, the importance of a healthy Delta estuary, and the return of the salmon.

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In ceremony, we set the vibrations of our prayers, songs, and dances down into the land and the waters, so all life can feel and hear that we are here, speaking up and doing what we can.

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Run4Salmon closes in ceremony as we send our prayers out to the ocean waters in the

Salmon and Whale Ceremony in Coast Miwok homeland.

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We will continue to pray, speak, and run for the salmon, for the waters, and all life.

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California Watershed Map

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Map of Run4Salmon

Route

Use a colored pencil or marker to trace this route on your map.

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Write a summary paragraph answering the following questions:

What are some of the solutions the Winnemem Wintu are proposing to bring back salmon?
What is the Run4Salmon?
In what way(s) is Run4Salmon helping to bring back salmon?

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