Monday October 21, 2024
CBS News —
More than 100 years ago, wild winter-run Chinook salmon from the icy cold McCloud River near California’s Mount Shasta ended up in the glacially cold mountain waters of New Zealand, where they continue to thrive today.
The quest to bring these ancestral fish back home continues, thanks to a $3.3 million grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Since 2016, an annual pilgrimage has taken place that is led by the Winnemem Wintu tribe and its chief and spiritual leader Caleen Sisk.
The 300-mile journey traces the ancestral path of the winter-run Chinook salmon from the McCloud River to the Pacific Ocean. The tribe has never wavered from a core belief.
“You know in our traditions, whatever happens to the salmon, happens to the people,” said Sisk.