Need DC area and East Coast UUs!

Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey

coming to DC July 29-31!!!!

My name is Deb Cruz and I am the President of JUUstice Washington (UU State Action Network) and a member of the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship in Bellingham, WA calling for your support and participation. At the General Assembly in 2015, many of you stood with Lummi Nation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrKff6a3Vuo). We need you once again, right now. I am writing you on behalf of the House of Tears Carvers of Lummi Nation from Washington State. House of Tears Carvers of Lummi Nation, led by Master Carver Jewell Praying Wolf James, is based in Bellingham, WA is renowned for its Totem Pole Journeys. The House carves Totem Poles and gifts them to Tribes/Nations and Impacted Communities across the North American continent.

“It is unacceptable to continue with the existing strategy of build first, and fight it out with tribes in court later.
There is a treaty responsibility to gain consent of affected tribes that is not being upheld.
This is creating a crisis in Indian Country where our most sacred places are at risk.
President Biden can and should take action today to fix this problem.”
—Jay Julius (Lummi), executive director of Se’Si’Le

Far too often, projects that affect Native lands, waters, and resources begin construction without proper consent, forcing Native Peoples to the frontlines to fight on all of our behalfs for what is supposed to be and should already be protected by law. This year the House of Tears Carvers is on the road as the Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey. The House has carved a Totem Pole in honor of Sacred Sites, bringing attention to, and promoting the protection and restoration of sacred lands, landscapes, and waterways all across the United States. Starting in their home territory in the Pacific Northwest, they bring attention to the urgent need to address the crisis in Xw’ullemy (the Salish Sea) and the repatriation of Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut (Lolita held captive by Miami Seaquarium for over 50 years). The Journey will end with a presentation of the Totem Pole to the Biden Administration and the Smithsonian. The Totem Pole and its Journey reminds us of our sacred obligation to honor Tribes and Nations and their struggles to restore and protect sites held sacred by them.

Along the route of its current Journey, which began April 21, 2012, the Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey has been raising awareness of impacted communities with both in-person and virtual Blessing event, highlighting Sacred Sites including the Salish Sea (WA), Juristac (CA), Snake River Dams (ID), Black Hills, (SD), Bristol Bay (AK), Standing Rock DAPL (ND), White Earth (Line 3-MN), Bay Mills (Line 5-MI), Badger-Two Medicine (MT), Bears Ears (UT), Thacker Pass (NV) and more.

Unitarian Universalists across the U.S. have hosted and participated in many of these events including (hoping we can add some more before it arrives to D.C.!:

Quimper UU, Port Townsend, WA
Olympic UU, Sequim, WA
Olympia UU with Interfaith Works, WA
Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, Bellingham, WA
Starr King UU, Hayward, CA
San Jose UU, San Jose, CA
UU Miami, Miami, FL
East Shore UU, Bellevue, WA

We’re hoping the D.C. area UU congregations can make their presence and participation visible as well.

Each Blessing stop encourages people from all communities to come together to hear the stories of impacted communities and to lay hands on the Totem Pole and imbue it with their prayers, their grief, and their hopes, to blend and mingle with thousands of others from across the U.S.

July 29th-This is where we need you UUs!

A ceremony, rally, and press conference will be held on the National Mall from 2 – 4 pm. People are also invited to sign up online for free tickets to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, where an exhibition about the House of Tears Carvers’ totem pole journeys is on view.

July 30th-31st:

On July 29, 2021, a totem pole carved by the House of Tears Carvers of the Lummi Nation will conclude its cross-country journey in Washington, DC. The totem pole will be on view July 29–31, 2021, near the National Museum of the American Indian entrance on Maryland Avenue. The Museum also has a “Kwel’ Hoy: We Draw the Line” Exhibit from the House of Tears Carvers and Lummi Nation from the 2017 Totem Pole Journey which focused on opposing fossil fuel projects threatening Tribal rights, lands, and waters.

For more information on the Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey: redroadtodc.org

Follow the Journey on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/totempolejourney

Here’s a video link of Jewell Praying Wolf James, describing the imagery and symbols on the Totem Pole: https://youtu.be/oLsOweAedgo

The National Tour (media coverage has been pretty extensive): https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/06/19/native-american-totem-pole-washington/

Please show up in numbers to signal both the House of Tears Carvers and the Biden Administration that you support Native voices in the protection of lands and waters that are Sacred to not only them but should be sacred to the rest of us as well. Pass this invitation to attend onto your networks, your friends, families, associates, partners, and allies as well!

“As monuments to colonialism are dismantled across the nation,

the totem pole creates a new kind of monument, one that serves to

build alliances around our collective obligation to care for our lands and waters for the generations to come.

It also challenges us to address environmental racism and the growing climate crisis.”

—Rosalyn LaPier (Blackfeet/Métis), Ph.D., board member at The Natural History Museum

Need DC area and East Coast UUs!