Salmon apology: Winnemem Wintu on the Rakaia!

Great to see representatives of the Winnemem Wintu tribe of Northern California have arrived in Aotearoa/New Zealand to reconcile various dynamics concerning the great Chinook salmon, introduced game fish of the east coast rivers of the South Island. I've been fishing the Rakaia since I was a wee kiddie, mainly for herrings and kahawai down at the south side of the mouth, and sometimes eels in the nooks and eddies.

I was lucky enough to witness the Calling Back the Salmon ceremony last year on the banks of the Yuba River, courtesy of UC Davis ecologist Josh Viers...










Josh Viers

The Rakaia environs are quite sparse, very bleak on a southerly day but a great place for communing with Mother Nature...


I also enjoyed conversations with Bill Jacobson of the Social Alliance Network


News leads here in Aotearoa on the Winnemem Wintu: TV 3