From California’s Capital blog by Greg Lucas:

The battle over the future of Shasta Dam surfaced this afternoon in the Assembly Governmental Organization committee in the form of joint resolution urging the federal government to reaffirm recognition of an Indian tribe along the McCloud River.

The Winnemem Wintu tribe, a dozen of whose members attended the hearing in native garb, opposes raising the dam on Lake Shasta which would inundate more of their holy places along the middle fork of the McCloud River, many of which were lost when the dam was completed in 1945.

They complain that the federal government stopped recognizing them and should reaffirm their status as a recognized tribe, which would give them more power to prevent potential destruction of their village sites and sacred places if the federal government decides to raise the dam.

“All we’re asking for is an even chance,\” Mark Franco, the tribe’s headman, told the committee. “We have never seen the proof (our federal recognition) was terminated.

Assembly Joint Resolution 39, basically a dandified letter urging federal officials to re-examine the case of the Winnemem Wintu, is carried by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, a former Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer.

To read the rest of this blog post from the California’s Capital blog, click here.

Photo of Shasta Dam taken from the Bureau of Reclamation photo gallery. Click on the photo see it enlarged and visit the Bureau of Reclamation website.