Event by Our Shared Responsibility: A Totem Pole Journey, IllumiNative and 2 others
National Mall, Washington DC
Price: Free · Duration: 1 day
Public · Anyone on or off Facebook
The House of Tears Carvers and our partners cordially invite you to our final blessing ceremony in Washington, D.C., after thousands of miles traveled and dozens of events across the country on the #RedRoadtoDC Totem Pole Journey. The event will be on July 29th as we come to the final stop on our journey to draw attention and action to sacred sites and Indigenous rights.
Learn more: http://redroadtodc.org
JULY 29TH SCHEDULE
11 am — 1 pm EST, Welcoming the pole and ceremony outside the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Viewing of the Kwel’Hoy: We Draw the Line exhibition about the House of Tears Carvers’ totem pole journeys, developed by Red Road to DC organizing partner The NaturalHistoryMuseum.org and the House of Tears.
2 pm — 2:30 pm EST. Ceremony and delivery event on the National Mall.
2:30 pm — 4pm EST. Rally, speakers, and talking circles on the National Mall.
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JULY 30TH
All day: Lobby day for tribal delegation from Red Road to DC physical and virtual journey stops.
11am–5pm EST: Totem pole will be available for viewing and visiting with the carvers outside the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Free and open to the public. Location: Maryland Ave SW, between 3rd and 4th Streets SW.
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ABOUT THE RED ROAD TO DC TOTEM POLE JOURNEY
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.