Help Celebrate Chief Sisk's Special 70th Birthday!

You can also donate via Venmo: @caleen-sisk

Chief Caleen Sisk, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe's spiritual leader, is turning 70 next month, and you can celebrate this momentous birthday with her by contributing to this GoFundMe.

Chief Caleen is a tireless defender of salmon, rivers and Winnemem Wintu lifeways. She has sacrificed a great deal to take on the responsibility of leading her people through these challenging times. Under her leadership, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe has revitalized many ceremonies and politically, spiritually and legally fought to protect Winnemem sacred sites as well as rivers, drinking water and salmon for everyone in California. Most recently, our advocacy under her leadership has contributed to the historic return of Chinook salmon eggs to the McCloud River for the first time since the dam was built in the 1940s.

As a leader of a tribe that the BIA has stripped of federal recognition, we are financially limited even though we are very rich in culture. Thus, anything you can contribute will help Chief Sisk continue her fight for justice and the restoration of Chinook salmon to the McCloud River. (And also maybe help her have something extra to ensure she has a little more fun while doing it).

The Winnemem Wintu Tribe is very grateful for the leadership and commitment of Chief Sisk, and you can help us make this birthday the special one she deserves.

Hee chala beskin,

Winnemem Wintu Tribe

More about Chief Caleen:

She is only the fifth Winnemem WIntu Chief since the incursion of Euro-American settlers. She worked side by side with the former spiritual leader and Top Doctor Florence Jones in her elder years and became Chief herself 20 years ago. She has since revitalized the Coming of Age Ceremony, bringing nine young girls into womanhood while having to fight for our right to a safe and respectful ceremony. She also brought back the War Dance to stop the raising of Shasta Dam and with that was guided to speak up to the world. She also learned after that ceremony that the McCloud River Chinook salmon still existed and flourished in New Zealand and took her people to do ceremony there in 2011. The government and Māori offered to return her salmon runs. Despite the huge blocks by institutions, Chief Sisk did not give up. The Run4Salmon Prayer journey was her response, and now in its 7th year, it is uniting tribes and protectors on the Sacramento River to carry the prayer and alert the state to the damage done to our river systems. This year she also was asked to co-partner the first historic reintroduction of hatchery salmon eggs above the dam in homewaters of the Winnemem because the runs have not succeeded. The salmon are severely endangered. The promise is in 2025 her salmon from Nee Zealand will be introduced as eyed eggs. Chief Sisk has impacted the world through the United Nations. Her testimony about the injustices faced by unrecognized tribes who had no human right to religion opened up an international conversation.