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Wintu sculpture

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Photo by George L. Winship, Editor

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  • Sculptor Frank Towendolly Lapena, 71, of Sacramento explains the significance and cultural importance of the 8-foot high Wintu dancer bronze statue and plaque dedicated Saturday, June 20, at the south-east corner of the Anderson Wal-Mart store. Built in 2006, the Wal-Mart store occupies a former Wintu village and burial site. The statue represents the healing of Mother Earth and the feather people whose spirits were disturbed when the construction took place. The more than $60,000 sculpture was commissioned by the Redding Rancheria and paid for by the Wal-Mart corporation as mitigation.
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  • A dance troupe from Grindstone Rancheria, 27 miles west of Willows, danced in celebration of the healing of Mother Earth and the relocation of the spirits disturbed by construction of the Wal-Mart in Anderson that opened in 2006 on what had been traditional Wintu camping and burial sites.
  • Close-up of the Anderson Wal-Mart Wintu dancer bronze sculpture created by artist and sculptor Frank LaPena of Sacramento.
  • Wintu dance troupe from Grindstone Rancheria, 27 miles west of Willows.

A dedication and spirit healing ceremony was held Saturday, June 20, at the south-east corner of the Anderson Super Wal-Mart, completed in 2006 on what was discovered during construction as a traditional village and burial site for the Wintu people, a Native American tribe that hunted and lived at various sites throughout the upper Sacramento River Valley including much of what is now Anderson. The centerpiece was an 8-foot tall bronze sculpture of a Wintu spirit dancer to symbolize the continuance of their way of life and their connection to Mother Earth and the Great Spirit. The artist is Frank Towendolly LaPena, 71, of Sacramento. The Wal-Mart corporation paid for the artwork commissioned by Redding Rancheria as mitigation for disturbing the tribal land and burial site.

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