DU help! USFS Denies Religious Freedom to Winnemem Wintu

[NVMojo]

ACTION ALERT BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Support the Winnemem Wintu and protect religious freedom!

The Winnemem Wintu Tribe is fighting the U.S. Forest Service for
access to one of their sacred sites along the McCloud River, south of
Mount Shasta. The Winnemem Wintu Tribe is planning a coming of age
ceremony near a campground along a section of the McCloud River for
July 8-11. Known as the Puberty Ceremony, it honors the coming of age
for young women from the Tribe and sets the tribal foundation of
existence. The site of the ceremony is Puberty Rock, by the edge of
the river, and the campground above is an ancestral Winnemem village
site.

While the Winnemem Wintu have prayed for millennia along the McCloud
River, today the U.S. Forest Service owns the campground and
subcontracts with Shasta Recreation Company to operate the facility.
The Tribe needs to use the campground privately for four days, but
the government has effectively stopped the ceremony by refusing to
waive campground fees and close a 200 yard section of the river to
boat traffic.

The Forest Service has reluctantly negotiated with the Winnemem Wintu
to secure safe, private access to the ceremonial site, but to date no
agreement has been reached. The Forest Service has supported the
Shasta Recreation Company's demand for more than $1,000 out of the
Tribe's own pocket to cover costs for reserving the campground and to
make up for lost profits.

"Isn't this country supposed to uphold religious freedoms?" asks
Caleen Sisk-Franco, spiritual leader of the Tribe. "By refusing to
close the campground and this section of the river, it means our
whole ceremony will be in danger. It is our right to practice our
religion without fear, in privacy, and they are basically denying us
that right."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can help: Send a letter of support! (sample letter below)

Sharon Heywood
Forest Supervisor, Shasta-Trinity National Forest
3644 Avtech Parkway
Redding, CA 96002

June 20, 2006
Dear Supervisor Heywood,

I am writing to urge the US Forest Service to support the religious
freedom of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. Unfortunately, the Tribe is
facing a challenge to their cultural and spiritual survival: the
inability to conduct a vital ceremony, Balas Chonas, the Puberty
Ceremony, safely and in privacy.

As you may know, the Puberty Ceremony is a coming of age ceremony for
young women in the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. It also establishes the
basis for the Tribe's existence and relationships. In order to hold
the ceremony, the Winnemem Wintu need access to the Kaibai Campground
in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest for at least four days in July
and need to have a 200 yard section of the McCloud River closed off
to ensure the safety of ceremonial participants. I urge you to
assist the Winnemem Wintu in securing these arrangements in whatever
ways possible. This includes waiving campground fees levied by the
Shasta Recreation Company and posting buoys indicating a river
closure for the duration of the ceremony.

It is the Winnemem Wintu's right to practice their religion
peacefully and in privacy. Indeed, the protection of religious
freedoms is one of the foundational tenets of the United States
government. It is within your jurisdiction, as the holder of the
campground, the entity who contracts with the private concessionaire,
and the administrators of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, to
waive the campground fees. The Forest Service has posted site closure
notices in the past and it is well within the agency's power to post
notices along the McCloud River. By refusing to do so, the Forest
Service is inhibiting the ability of the Tribe practice their
religion and knowingly endangering the safety of Tribal members.

As the Winnemem have made clear throughout negotiations, any
disturbance from other campers and the threat of powerboats to
ceremonial swimmers severely impairs the ability of the Tribe to
conduct their ceremony. The inaction of the Forest Service to aid
the Tribe is tantamount to prohibiting the ceremony. By honoring the
profits of a concessionaire, the Shasta Recreation Company, over the
right of the Tribe to worship, it appears the Forest Service is
prioritizing the profits of a private company over the religious
rights of native people.

In addition to upholding the civil rights of the Winnemem Wintu, I
urge you to respect the Tribe's position as a steward of the McCloud
River. Given this unique relationship, conducting traditional
ceremonies can only be seen as a positive act. The ceremony causes no
negative impacts. Indeed, assisting the Winnemem Wintu in making
arrangements for the Puberty Ceremony should be seen as fulfilling
the obligations of your mission: to protect the forest. It is hard to
imagine why the Forest Service would choose to block a tradition that
will enhance the natural beauty and health of the area.

Ceremonies such as Balas Chonas are crucial to the Winnemem Wintu. I
urge you to appreciate the complex interrelationships between the
river, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and their ceremonies. Access to the
Tribe's sacred sites is necessary not only as a matter of religious
freedom, but as a matter of cultural survival. Your own motto spells
out your obligation to assisting the Winnemem: "caring for the land
and serving people," surely includes the people whose homeland
constitutes a large segment of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
However, by limiting the Winnemem's ability to practice their
religion in their sacred sites, the Forest Service is causing an
irrevocable loss of culture.

I urge your agency do your utmost to facilitate the Tribe's exclusive
use of the Kaibai campground, including waiving the campground fees
and closing the necessary 200 yard section of the river. The
Winnemem Wintu Tribe has communicated in good faith with the Forest
Service for over a year, and I sincerely hope you can respond in
similar good faith by upholding the religious freedoms of the
Winnemem Wintu Tribe.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Thank you very much!

_____________________________

Christopher (Toby) McLeod
Sacred Land Film Project
P.O. Box C-151
La Honda, CA 94020 USA

http://www.sacredland.org

a project of Earth Island Institute

Our documentary film on threatened sacred places, In the Light of
Reverence is distributed by Bullfrog Films: 1-800-543-3764

[NMMNG]

1. Don't you know?

Only certain groups are privy to "freedom of religion" in this country. :sarcasm:


I'll be sending a letter.

[happyslug]

3. What about Shasta's Religious freedom????

You know the worship of the almighty Dollar? Several years ago some wag was working in the UN listing Countries and their Religion. When it came to the US he wrote down "Capitalism".

In many ways Capitalism is the Religion of our Government(Through more Accurately it should be call "Corporationism", the worship of the Corporation and the money it can make). When another religion interferes with the the "Religious Need" of Corporations, our Governments position is to protect the "Religious Needs" of the Corporation. Corporationism is the Religion of this Government, unofficial but a more powerful connection to the power of the State than any State Church has had with any State (and by State I do NOT mean a US State but the Concept of the Nation-State which has been the dominate form of Government in the Western World since the Middle Ages).

[Dogmudgeon]

2. What book of the Bible is "Balas Chonas" in?

--p!