Tuesday October 8, 2024
San Francisco Chronicle —
In the sun-drenched hills of Colusa County, where California leaders are pushing for construction of the state’s largest reservoir in decades, Charlie Wright sees more than a dusty valley destined to hold water.
Wright, who is tribal chairman of the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation, sees pieces of his people’s past on this sparsely populated land on what is today cattle country 70 miles northwest of Sacramento.
“You look deep enough and there is a village there. There is a food processing site there,” Wright said. “There are trails and landmarks. This history isn’t known to a lot of nontribal folks who don’t study it, but it is well known by the tribes, and we haven’t forgotten.”
The Native American ties to this rural stretch of Northern California have emerged as the latest point of contention in the bid to build the $4.5 billion Sites Reservoir. In recent weeks, a handful of tribes concerned about disturbing a special spot have stepped up efforts to stop the project, even as supporters laud it as one of the state’s best answers to drought.