A Totem Pole Carved by Lummi Nation Citizens As a Gift for Biden Prepares for Epic Journey to Washington

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - A 24-foot totem pole carved by Lummi Nation tribal members is getting its finishing touches this week before embarking on a cross country journey-deemed the Red Road to D.C.- from Washington state to Washington D.C. next month as a gift to the Biden administration.

Along the way, the pole will make stops-accompanied by a team of about a dozen of its carvers-at sacred Native American sites in Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and South Dakota before reaching its final destination: the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, where it will be displayed this fall.

The purpose of the journey is to bring recognition, honor, and calls to prayer for sacred sites threatened by development and resource extraction, according to the main carver, Jewell Praying Wolf James. James is the only surviving member of the Lummi Nation's House of Tears Carvers.

https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/a-totem-pole-carved-by-lummi-nation-citizens-as-a-gift-for-biden-prepares-for-epic-journey-to-washington