Updates from the Road

In this guest blog post, Indigenous ethnobotanist Rosalyn LaPier (Blackfeet/Métis), Ph.D. shares her observations, as a traveler on the Red Road to DC journey, on how the climate emergency is impacting Indigenous sacred places, and the need for urgent action. “What stands out most from the journey for me is the visceral, first hand experience of climate chaos happening right now on Indigenous lands and Indigenous peoples’ collective cry for action. It is time to ‘draw the line.’”

On July 31st, we moved the totem pole to the park in front of the Department of the Interior building in Washington DC, where it will be on display until it is moved to its permanent home. The pole has traveled more than 20,000 miles, visiting sacred lands and waters at risk from dams, mining, … Read Update

Kwel’ Hoy: We Draw the Line Exhibition by The Natural History Museum and the House of Tears Carvers of the Lummi Nation On view at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Washington D.C. Free and open to the public, July 2 – September 9, 2021 Kwel’ Hoy: We Draw the Line is a cross-country tour, … Read Update

A historic day: the Red Road to DC has brought the blessings, hopes, prayers, and urgent calls to action to the United States capital. The Red Road totem pole journey has connected and galvanized thousands of people, and has been welcomed and honored by dozens of tribal nations, Native grassroots groups, and allies. Today, the … Read Update

The Straits of Mackinac connect Lakes Michigan and Huron, and are sacred waters for tribal nations in the area, who have been fighting the existing Line 5 pipeline, as well as a plan to build a new pipeline tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.

Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, will welcome a totem pole carved by Lummi Nation carvers at a ceremony and rally on the National Mall. The totem pole honors sacred Indigenous places and is a gift as well as an urgent call to action. Communities across the country are asking President Biden for immediate protection of … Read Update

According to the Anishinaabe’s Seven Generations and Seventh Fire prophecies, we are in the time when we have a choice between two paths. One path is well worn, scorched and leads to our destruction. The other path is new, green and leads to mino-bimaadiziwin (the good life). We must choose to walk the new path by saying “no” to the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline and other fossil fuel investments, and “yes” to renewable energy investments. The path must be grounded in Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and a deep reverence for our Mother Earth.

This territory is the headwaters of the Red River and the Mississippi River; the territory of the Great Lakes. For thousands of years, the ancestors of the Anishinaabe people lived here well. Now, the Canadian corporation, Enbridge, is proposing a new route for their Line 3 replacement across a pristine water-rich environment. Line 3 is a clear danger to the climate, water, and land in Minnesota, and would undermine the Indigenous treaty rights of the Anishinaabe people.

This weekend, our caravan was met by Bigfoot riders, their horses descended from the war ponies of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The riders escorted the totem pole to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Government Office, where council members talked about their efforts to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline and reclaim treaty lands … Read Update

Íŋyaŋ Wosláta by Danielle SeeWalker (Hunkpapa Lakota and Citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) 12”x16” acrylic on canvas paper Website:  www.seewalker.com Instagram: @seewalker_ART From the artist: “Many know the name “Standing Rock”, but how many know how our tribe got that name? STORY TIME: Years ago, a Dakota man married an Arikara girl and they had … Read Update

This video features conflicting perspectives on the Dakota Access Pipeline’s impact to cultural and sacred sites from the State of North Dakota’s Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Historic Preservation Officer (THPO). Their conflict–relevant to the Tribe’s ongoing lawsuit challenging the pipeline–illuminates some of the deeper tensions at play in struggles to protect … Read Update

The Black Hills stretch across western South Dakota, northeast Wyoming and southeast Montana and constitute a sacred landscape for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Omaha. To the Lakota, they are the Paha Sapa, or “black hills.” These sacred lands were the casualty of one of the most blatant land grabs in U.S. history and continue to be the site of a legal and political confrontation.

On July 18th the Red Road to DC caravan joined local organizations at the Counselor Chapter House in New Mexico for a live-streamed program and totem pole ceremony to highlight sacred sites at risk due to oil and gas drilling. We met with local hosts from the Diné CARE, Native American Voters Alliance Education Project, All Pueblo Council of … Read Update

From the artist: “I wanted to show sacred land by depicting old broken pottery of our ancestors that lived on Bears Ears land.”  Michael Haswood is the current artist in residence for Utah Diné Bikéyah. Find him on Instagram under @MichaelHaswoodd TOTEM POLE AND ANCESTORS MEETING; Color pencil and acrylic black paint pen (2021) 

This video is featured in an exhibition about the Lummi totem pole journeys, on view at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Narrated by Phreddie Lane of the Lummi Nation, the video provides some context on what the red line, or Red Road, references.

On Sunday, the Red Road to DC totem pole journey joined local organizations at the Counselor Chapter House in New Mexico as part of our efforts to honor and protect sacred sites that are at risk due to development and infrastructure projects. We displayed the totem pole by Lummi Nation carvers and met with local … Read Update

WOVEN LANDSCAPE: CHACO CANYON by Darby Raymond-Overstreet (Diné) From the artist: This land is Sacred. Protection of the Earth is woven throughout our cultural teachings as Diné, and through this piece I want to share this vision of collective responsibility to protect what is sacred. As the land gives freely and abundantly to us all, … Read Update

The House of Tears Carvers and Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment held a blessing ceremony at Chief Timothy Park by the Snake River on Thursday, July 15th, 2021. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to restore wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia and Snake Rivers and their tributaries, once the greatest salmon rivers in the world. We … Read Update

Day 3 of the Red Road to DC is in the books! A 12-hour travel day from Twin Falls, Idaho to Sand Island in Bluff, Utah. We were first received just outside Salt Lake City by representatives of Utah Diné Bikéyah who brought us food, made prayers for our journey and escorted us to Sand … Read Update

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJuly 16, 2021Contact: Teran Villa, tvilla@indianpueblo.org The All Pueblo Council of Governors Stands in Solidarity with the Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey to Protect Sacred Sites Albuquerque, N.M. – Journeying across the United States of America in Protecting Sacred Landscapes is a Totem Pole carved by the House of Tears Carvers … Read Update

This artwork created by Aly McKnight (Shoshone-Bannock) in support of the Red Road to DC journey is dedicated to the Snake River journey stop, where the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) and Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are calling for the removal of the four lower Snake River dams and the return of the salmon,. From the artist: “The inspiration … Read Update

Today was a good day, on traditional Nimiipuu territory—the first stop on the #RedRoadtoDC. The salmon, central to Nimiipuu culture, are facing an extinction crisis due to aging dams and warming waters. Native grassroots organizers, elders, and Nez Perce tribal leaders called for the removal of the Snake River dams at this moving totem pole journey … Read Update

Join us at 5pm Pacific on Wednesday, June 30th for the first virtual event on the #RedRoadtoDC. Be sure to RSVP via zoom at this link to join us online for this special event. Salmon People: Indigenous Resistance and Resilience in Alaska: “Since time immemorial, the salmon have been sacred to the identities, traditions, and … Read Update

Sunset at the Toadstool Hoodoos in Kanab, Utah. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)   The appointment and confirmation of Secretary Haaland to lead the Department of the Interior (DOI) is historic in its own right and is one of the reasons the House of Tears Carvers, Se’Si’Le, The Natural History Museum, and Native Organizers Alliance … Read Update

The House of Tears Carvers and the #RedRoadtoDC totem pole made one final stop in the Pacific Northwest before heading south for the Port Angeles to Los Angeles (PA to LA) leg of the Red Road West Tour. The carvers were welcomed by the Chehalis Tribe for their Tribal Days, where they engaged community members … Read Update

Neighboring the Lummi Indian Reservation, the city of Bellingham has played host to numerous Totem Pole Journey blessing ceremonies over the past two decades, consistently bringing out strong support from faith-based organizations, environmental groups, and everyday citizens. The House of Tears Carvers has longstanding ties with members of the Bellingham community, who stood by the … Read Update

On Saturday May 22nd, the Totem Pole Journey team and the House of Tears Carvers brought the #RedRoadtoDC totem pole to the streets of Seattle for two events and blessing ceremonies as part of the Red Road West Tour, which offers communities an opportunity to visit the pole before it embarks on the Red Road … Read Update

A few weeks ago, the Women of Bears Ears wrote a powerful Op-Ed in the New York Times that everyone should read, especially as the #RedRoadtoDC Totem Pole Journey heads to Bears Ears National Monument on July 17. The House of Tears Carvers fully support the Women of Bears Ears and encourage everyone to follow … Read Update

Master Carver Jewell James often speaks about the legacies of colonial violence in Indigenous communities. It does not take much to connect the dots between what happened in the residential school systems across North America, including the theft of thousands upon thousands of Indigenous children from their families and communities, to assertions of First Nation … Read Update

The House of Tears Carvers continue on the #RedRoadtoDC drawing attention to sacred sites and Indigenous rights with some blessing ceremonies in the western US ahead of the national tour to DC in July. For the most up to date list of events, locations, and times, please visit the Totem Pole Journey Facebook page. Tuesday, … Read Update

The House of Tears Carvers will host a regional tour this Spring to pay respects and offer an opportunity for Northwest tribal and non-tribal communities to visit and pray with the pole. All locations can be found on our Google map and event details and live-streams are posted on the Totem Pole Journey Facebook page. … Read Update

After much discussion, the #RedRoadtoDC planning committee has decided to push back the original cross-country journey dates due to the pandemic. COVID has been surging in Utah and New Mexico, and Navajo Nation went back on lockdown in April. The federal government also pushed back the date of opening things up for in-person meetings. With … Read Update