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This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
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Malibu
Chumash Village to Host Klamath Riverkeeper
Event
• Local Groups Join Ranks
with Organizations Seeking Removal of Four Dams
BY
ANNE SOBLE
The
activist group Ventura Coastkeeper is hosting a
fundraiser on Saturday at the Nicholas Canyon
County Park Chumash village to support a sister
environmental organization’s fight to remove
four dams and restore one of the state’s great
rivers, the Klamath.
According to the event’s organizers, “At stake
are the traditional cultures of California’s
three largest Native American tribes as well as
the state’s commercial and sport salmon
fisheries.”
Mati
Waiya, who is the head of Ventura Coastkeeper
and a member of the Chumash tribe in the area,
has spearheaded local cooperation with Klamath
Riverkeeper.
Waiya
says, “It’s important that we support one
another’s struggles because all things and all
struggles for justice are connected.”
He
adds that is why he is working with the
international Waterkeeper Alliance to launch a
Tribal Waterkeepers program.
Klamath Riverkeeper’s objective is to convince
PacifiCorp, which is overseen by Warren Buffet,
to remove four dams on the Klamath River that
have reportedly led to dramatic declines in the
salmon population, as well as massive blooms of
toxic blue green algae.
According to Klamath Riverkeeper’s Regina
Chichizola, “Buffet’s PacifiCorp is creating an
ecological disaster and native people and
commercial salmon fishermen are paying the
price.”
Chichizola says this weekend’s event is
important to help fund the group’s actions on
“this critical concern, “Funds raised will help
the Klamath Riverkeeper and the Karuk tribes’
actions to solve the Klamath crisis,” she said.
Recently, Klamath Riverkeeper, along with
members of the Karuk, Yurok, and Hoopa tribes,
disrupted Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway
shareholders’ meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, in an
attempt to draw national attention to what is
happening.
According to Chichizola, PacifiCorp is owned by
Mid-American Energy, which is owned by Berkshire
Hathaway ,and Buffett is president and majority
shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway.
Chichizola says, “We want Buffett and PacifiCorp
to know that as long as there is no business as
usual for salmon fisherman on the Klamath, there
will be no business as usual for them either.”
The
groups hope that additional political and
economic pressure will come from
environmentalists who do not want to see the
river destroyed.
The
event that will be held at Wishtoyo
Foundation’s Chumash Village at Nicholas Canyon
County Park will feature traditional songs and
regalia from the local Chumash community and the
Ohlone dancers, as well as performers from the
Klamath River tribes.
Organizers say the highlight of the evening will
be a dinner of traditional fire-roasted Klamath
salmon.
“Once
you have a taste of what could be lost, you
quickly become a supporter of our struggle,”
said Leaf Hillman of the Karuk Tribe.
The
groups taking part in the event hope to raise
$75,000 to support their campaign efforts,
including the cost of experts to assist with a
nuisance lawsuit against Buffett’s PacifiCorp
that is now headed to trial.
The
July 26 event is set for 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at
the site that features a reconstruction of a
Chumash village and a spectacular view of the
waters the Chumash people once traversed in
numbers.
Donations to assist the Klamath campaign are
requested.
Malibuites interested in attending the event
can obtain additional information from Waiya at
805-794-1248, or Chichizola at 541-951-0126.
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml