Performance

SNAKE RIVER DAMS • #RedRoadToDC • Totem Pole Journey • Blessing Ceremony

When
July 15, 2021
9am PST
Where
Chief Timothy Park/Campground, 13766 US-12, Clarkston, WA 99403

This is a non Confluence event, put on by the the House of Tears Carvers and Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment.

The House of Tears Carvers and Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment cordially invite you to our blessing ceremony at Chief Timothy Park and the Snake River Dams on Thursday, July 15th, 2021.

This summer, the House of Tears Carvers of the Lummi Nation are transporting a 24-foot totem pole they carved from Washington State to Washington D.C. As this pole travels it draws lines of connection–honoring, uniting and empowering communities working to protect sacred places. It carries the spirit of the lands it visits and the power and prayers of communities along the way. ​ In this moment of self-reflection across the United States and the acknowledgment of past and present injustices inflicted on Native Peoples and lands without consent, we invite all peoples to stand united with us to protect sacred places, and fulfill our ancestral and historic obligations to the First Peoples of these lands and waters.

This journey and our partners recognize an historic opportunity. With a new federal administration—including the first Native American to lead the Department of the Interior, the Executive Orders issued, Supreme Court decisions affirming tribal rights, and the urgency of climate crises, now is the time to implement policies to protect, restore, and renew sacred places, lands and waterways; and redefine the principles that shape land and water regulation and management in the United States on the basis of tribal sovereignty and Nation to Nation relations.

In July, the delivery of a totem pole from Lummi carvers and spiritual leaders to the new Administration, along with events in Washington, D.C., will be the summit of a cross-country tour connecting twenty of the country’s Native-led struggles where sacred lands, waters, and wildlife are imperiled by dams, climate change, and extractive industries. Ceremonial welcomes, online “virtual journey” events and live-streamed outdoor events, and media-making from the road will build support for the sovereign right of tribal nations to shape local and federal solutions, and to act on our collective ancestral responsibility to protect sacred places and the natural world for generations to come.

Please consider these words shared from Se Sealth {pronounced: Sa-see-alth}, Master Carver Jewell James, written ahead of the PNW and West Coast portions of the #RedRoadtoDC journey:

Dear Friends & Relatives,

We are the House of Tears Carvers. In 2021, we are celebrating our 20th Anniversary of the Totem Pole Journey in the Spirit of Healing, Honor, Hospitality, Respect and Protection.

Our elder, Tom Sampson of Vancouver Island in 2002 reminded us, ‘The totem pole isn’t what is Sacred. It’s the gathering of the people around the Pole — that is what is Sacred.’ he said.

This year we invite you to share in this sacred moment, as we prepare for our national tour: The Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey to Protect Sacred Sites • July 14th thru July 30, 2021.
• All of our gatherings will abide by safety measures of mask-wearing, socially distancing and hand sanitizing.

Hyshqe Si’am for your attention to this matter. Should you be moved to give to our cause, please donate online at http://redroadtodc.org.

We come in peace.

Sincerely,
Jewell ‘Praying Wolf’ James