2018 Geography of Hope: Chief Caleen Sisk

Описание: Conference Speaker Chief Caleen Sisk speaks on the topic of "This I Believe: Finding Resilience in Nature in Perilous Times at the 2018 Geography of Hope Conference in Point Reyes Station, California.

Caleen Sisk is the Spiritual Leader and Tribal Chief of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, who practice their traditional culture and ceremonies in their territory along the McCloud River watershed in Northern California.

Since assuming leadership responsibilities in 2000, Caleen has focused on maintaining the cultural and religious traditions of the Tribe, and has led the revitalization of the Winnemem’s H’up Chonas (or War Dance) and BaLas Chonas (Puberty Ceremony), which had not been practiced for decades. She advocates for California salmon restoration; healthy, undammed watersheds, and the human right to water. She has received international honors as a tireless sacred site protector, and currently leads the tribe’s resistance against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s proposal to raise Shasta Dam 18-feet and inundate or damage more than 40 sacred sites.

She is also currently leading her Tribe’s efforts to work with Maori and federal fish biologists to return wild Chinook salmon from New Zealand to the McCloud River. In doing so, she advocates for the inclusion of traditional ecological knowledge in federal, state and local environmental research and planning.

Caleen is an internationally known speaker on traditional tribal and spiritual issues, having spoken on diverse topics such as spiritual medicine ways, the spirit of water, global warming, sacred sites protection and the responsibility of tribal people to honor their tribal lifeway.

The Geography of Hope Conference was co-sponsored by Black Mountain Circle, Center for Humans and Nature, the US Forest Service, and Point Reyes Books. For more videos, visit blackmountaincircle.org or humansandnature.org.