It’s amazing to consider, but I have spent nearly 15 months living with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe as an immersion journalist.
I have a fair number of clips, a huge stack of notebooks to transcribe and a slew of as of yet unrealized story ideas buzzing in my brain.
Here’s a photo slideshow of some of the highlights from my time at the village of Tuiimyali. The Winnemem beat is quite a busy one. The whole process has been a huge lesson in cultural humility, but I don’t think anything shocked me quite as much as the letter Caleen received from U.S. Fish and Wildlife revoking her 25-year-old eagle feather permit. The letter is included in the slideshow.
It was hard to believe how simply and quickly a basic right to religious freedom could be stripped away.
Some relevant links:
1. My story about the U.N. Rapporteur’s visit
2. My story about eagle feather permits