The totem pole’s journey, which organizers dubbed the “ Red Road to DC,” was led by about a dozen people, many of whom are Native Americans and members of the Lummi Nation, a tribe of about 5,000 members west of Bellingham, Wash. “We’re working hard to undue so many consequences of those actions," she said Thursday, adding that the country is in a “new era” of “truth, healing and growth.” Haaland said many of the nation’s policies originally were “intended to exclude” Native Americans. On Thursday afternoon, tribal leaders, some of the pole’s carvers, and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland - the first Native American Cabinet secretary - along with other dignitaries blessed the pole at a ceremony on the Mall. The pole will be on display for three days outside the entrance of the National Museum of the American Indian. “And to have it sit among these sacred national monuments, representing Native American peoples, is special.” “It’s a very historic moment to bring it to D.C.," said Phreddie Lane, a Lummi member who came up with the idea to bring the totem pole to D.C. “They’d burst into tears because they could feel the energy,” he said outside the museum just after the arrival of the pole, which was made from a 400-year-old red cedar tree that was cut, carved and painted with images of importance to Native Americans. Douglas James, a Lummi Nation member who was one of the pole’s carvers and traveled with the group that brought it across the United States, said they met thousands of people along their journey - many of whom became emotional as they touched the pole. Hauled on a flatbed trailer, the roughly 5,000-pound totem pole was brought to the front entrance of the National Museum of the American Indian on the Mall, where a small crowd came to welcome it. Well worth a visit but it needs tone an arranged visit or else it is just an empty building.Many who touched the pole during its journey 'burst into tears because they could feel the energy’Ī 25-foot totem pole, intricately hand-carved and painted by Native Americans, arrived in the nation’s capital Wednesday afternoon after a two-week cross-country journey from Washington state, as part of a campaign to protect sacred tribal lands. After the welcome we went to see the carver of the Totem Poles with a short talk on how he learnt and how he passed on his skills to his son, who de declared was now a better carver than himself. Members were of all ages including a couple of young children who learn by just taking part in what hey want to do, it was explained that there was no formal teaching of the dances or songs it was learnt through participation and none of the children were force or even encouraged to take part. Being that it was part of an organised tour there was also a welcome form some of the residents in the traditional form of dance. We took a short walk through the woods to the villages meeting house which is pictured in the description. We had an introduction video and a few words from an inhabitant of the village, he even tried hard to teach us a few words in his native tongue. This was the second part of a day tour and was by far the most interesting. Welcoming introduction to a different culture.
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