This slideshow depicts the Winnemem’s trip to New Zealand this March to sing and atone to the salmon on the Rakaia River. The salmon are descended from the fish that once swam in the McCloud River, on whose shores the tribe lived before the Shasta Dam was built during World War II.
The slideshow is narrated by Ngai Tahu activist and conservationist Pauline Reid. She was one of the Maori supporters who hosted the Winnemem, and here she discusses with great candor and emotion the parallels she sees between her people and the Winnemem, especially in their struggles to preserve their culture and their sacred fish.
The “tuna” she mentions are the longfin eels to which her people have a bond that resembles the Winnemem’s to the salmon.