US tribe wants salmon back

Two dozen Native Americans have come to New Zealand on a spiritual mission to ask their fish to return home to California.

The tribal leaders plan to apologise to the chinook salmon – known here as quinnat – on the banks of the Rakaia River through a ceremonial dance, the New York Times reported.

Chinook salmon are native to the Pacific but lately in short supply in the rivers of Northern California, home to the Winnemem Wintu – a tiny, poor tribe.

As the Winnemem see it, the tribe's troubles began in the early 1940s with the completion of the Shasta Dam, which blocked the Sacramento River and cut off the lower McCloud River, obstructing seasonal salmon runs, and breaking a covenant with the fish.

The salmon was introduced into New Zealand waters between 1901 and 1907 and now flourishes in the Rangitata River, the Opihi River, the Ashburton River, the Rakaia River, the Waimakariri River, the Hurunui River, and the Waiau River.

The Winnemem say the New Zealand fish are descended from eggs taken from the Sacramento and McCloud rivers, and they want their fish back.

"The spirits came," chief Caleen Sisk-Franco told the New York Times. "And they said: `You've got to get it done'."

Ms Sisk-Franco said the tribe and the salmon were intrinsically linked. "What happened to the salmon happened to us," she said. "The fish have been diminishing in numbers, and so have we."

The group had to scrape to raise the US$60,000 (NZ$84,685) for the trip by selling trinkets, soliciting help from richer tribes, and fundraising through a Facebook page, Mark Franco, the tribe's headman, said.

He had made it clear to the delegation the trip was not a vacation, but a mission. "We have a job to do," he said.

The Winnemem plan to meet with Ngai Tahu leaders and stage a four-day ceremony starting on March 28 that will culminate with the rare "nur chonas winyupus", or middle water salmon dance.

The Francos intend to ask New Zealand authorities if they can take some of Canterbury's salmon eggs – once of California stock – back to the McCloud.

"We have to do more than pray," Ms Sisk-Franco said. "We have to follow through."

- NZPA