The Creation of Voices

In the beginning of time, Creator called the spirits to take physical form on Bulliyuum Puyuuk (Mt. Shasta). One spirit chose Elk—tilting its antlers through the portal at Panther Springs Meadows before walking down the path. To this day, elk still carries its antlers back, remembering its emergence from the spring. Another spirit became Raven and soared into the pines. One by one, every creature found its shape—except one.

At last, in a trembling voice, that spirit declared, “I will be human,” and darted away, uncertain of its path. Seeing this, Creator summoned the fire, water, and mountain spirits to guide the lost being. Watching from afar, Lindada Nur felt compelled to help and offered a precious gift: the salmon’s own voice. Moved by that sacrifice, Creator allowed Lindada Nur to bestow speech upon humans, forever binding our fates together.

The Ice Waterfall Prophecy

Hundreds of thousands of years later, in the early 1900s—when genocide and displacement threatened our people—salmon still filled the McCloud River, until the prophecy came. During a riverside ceremony, we pleaded for help against the ecocide and genocide unfolding around us. In that sacred moment, Lindada Nur spoke: the salmon would disappear and slip through the Ice Waterfall inside Mt. Shasta, entering a hidden spiritual realm to await our call.

At the time, the Winnemem did not understand—but when the Shasta Dam rose in 1944 and blocked the salmon’s passage, the river fell silent and the prophecy was revealed. It would be another sixty years before we fully grasped the Ice Waterfall’s promise.

Aotearoa and the Return

In 2004, after our first war dance in over a century, Lindada Nur spoke through our ceremony: the salmon were ready to come home. Covered by eighty news outlets worldwide, our dance was followed by an email from a Christchurch University professor confirming that McCloud River salmon had found refuge in the glacial-fed streams of Aotearoa’s South Island—transported there by U.S. Fish and Game. Everywhere else they perished; only in Aotearoa did they thrive. Their survival confirmed the sacred journey through the Ice Waterfall on Mt. Shasta’s peaks to the ice falls of Mt. Aoraki (Mt. Cook).

Guided by Māori ceremony and protocol, we traveled to Aotearoa in 2010 and performed rites to call them back to the Winnemem Waywaket (McCloud River). That pilgrimage reaffirmed the sacred reciprocity of water, land, and people—and strengthened our resolve to bring Lindada Nur home to its ancestral waters.

Why Bollibokka Matters

The seven-mile stretch of river and 3,000 acres known as the Bollibokka Club is more than property—it is where Lindada Nur first swam and where salmon and humans forged their ancient covenant. Westlands Water District has acknowledged our spiritual responsibility and agreed to return Bollibokka to Winnemem Wintu stewardship for $10 million. This transfer isn’t charity or commerce—it is the fulfillment of prophecy: to see Chinook salmon flourish here once again.

These lands yearn for the original McCloud River stock—Lindada Nur’s descendants—who survived only in Aotearoa’s glacial streams after early-1900s transplant efforts. When they return, we will establish natural incubation systems at Bollibokka, restoring the river’s life-giving cycle. Bollibokka also holds our most sacred sites—like Puberty Rock, where our girls still undergo coming-of-age ceremonies. Returning these lands restores our sacred responsibilities to water, salmon, and ceremony.

Our Ongoing Promise

Today, we stand accountable to Lindada Nur’s legacy. We participate in ceremonies with other tribes, advocate at the United Nations and state agencies, and partner with California Fish & Wildlife, NOAA, UC Davis, and committed farmers to protect salmon and water, revive healthy runs, and honor Indigenous protocols. In 2016, the Winnemem Wintu launched Run4Salmon—a 300-mile prayer journey from Mt. Shasta to San Francisco Bay and back. Since 2004, we have worked tirelessly to bring the salmon home.

Join Us in Restoring the Circle

This is not a plea for profit or a marketing pitch—it is the telling of our truth. Our history with Lindada Nur spans millennia. The salmon’s journey from Panther Springs to Aotearoa and back again is living proof that prophecy, ecology, and ceremony are inseparable. Securing Bollibokka ensures our ceremonies continue where they began, our rivers brim with salmon once more, and all beings—fish, bird, bear, human, and tree—share in the renewal of life.