Shasta Indian Nation | P.O. Box 195 | Macdoel CA 96058

For Immediate Release: June, 18, 2024

 

Contact:

Shasta Communications Team

shastacommunications@gmail.com

 

 2,800 Acres of Ancestral Homelands returned to Shasta Indian Nation

After 150 years of displacement, Shasta people are returning home

 

Today, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state of California will return 2,800 acres of land to the Shasta Indian Nation. The gold rush in mid to late 1800’s brought violence and the displacement of  Shasta people  from their territory, and in 1911, lost what remained of their land base when the lands were taken through imminent domain for the construction of Copco No. 1 dam. The lands were held by PacifiCorp until they surrendered the Lower Klamath Project to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) to oversee the removal of the lower four Klamath hydroelectric dams. Once dam removal and restoration are complete, KRRC will transfer these lands to the Shasta Indian Nation.

 

The Shasta Indian Nation is comprised of people who came from the villages of Kikacéki, a reach of Klamath River which spans the Copco and Iron Gate reservoirs and has been either dewatered or covered by reservoirs for over a century.

 

“Today is a turning point in the history of the Shasta people. The story of what Shasta people and Kikacéki have experienced over the last 150 years has been a painful one to tell. For so long we have felt a great loss, a loss of our family, our ancestors, for the loss of our villages and ceremony sites” said Janice Crowe, Chairman for the Shasta Indian Nation. “Now we can return home, return to culture, return to ceremony, and begin to weave a new story for the next generation of Shasta, who will get to call our ancestral lands home once again.”

 

The lands that will be returned to the Shasta Indian Nation included the former Copco Reservoir footprint, what was known as the “Ward’s Canyon Reach,” and the “Copco Village” including the still standing Copco No. 2 powerhouse which will be converted into an interpretive center that tells the history of the Shasta people, the dams, and the story of the river.

 

“Our vision for these lands is one of cultural revitalization, education and landscape stewardship” said Candice Difuntorum, Vice-Chairman “The dam removal has exposed 35 miles of river that hasn’t seen the light of day for over 100 years, and we look forward to revitalizing the river, our lands, ceremony and people.”