This Summer, the House of Tears Carvers of the Lummi Nation will transport a 25-foot totem pole from Washington State to Washington DC, stopping for ceremony and live-streamed events with communities leading efforts to protect sacred places under threat from resource extraction and industrial development. As the pole travels it draws lines of connection—honoring, uniting and empowering communities working to protect sacred places. The pole carries the spirit of the lands it visits and the power and prayers of communities along the way—ultimately delivering these prayers, power and demands to the Biden-Harris Administration and Congress in Washington DC, and culminating in an exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. In the context of a national reckoning with American history, and the acknowledgement of past and present injustices inflicted on Native Peoples and lands without consent, the Red Road to DC invites people to take a stand with those who are struggling to protect sacred places. Our collective future depends on it.
