Snake River Blessing Ceremony - #RedRoadtoDC Totem Pole Journey (July 14th, 2021)
Channel: The Red Road To DC
Date: 2021-07-16

This Summer, the House of Tears Carvers of the Lummi Nation are 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. Follow the journey online at the links below. 

Snake River Blessing Ceremony (July 15th, 2021)
On the banks of the Snake River at Chief Timothy Park (Clarkston, WA)
 https://www.redroadtodc.org

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 We can do this by removing four outdated and expensive dams on the lower Snake River.

For too long these 4 dams have impeded the rights of Nez Perce and other Northwest First Peoples to exercise Traditional Fishing Treaty Rights. Now the salmon are dying by the thousands. The federal government promised the Nez Perce People the right to hunt and fish in their usual and accustomed places as part of the 1855 Treaty. The promise was broken. It’s time to right this wrong.

Wild salmon, steelhead and pacific lamprey have been used by the Nez Perce People for subsistence, trade and ceremonial purposes for centuries. If we free the Snake River, we can save the salmon, honor Treaty Rights and bring about the biggest river restoration in history.

“For the past five decades the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have been working to restore the Snake River and their salmon runs. With the dams in place, the Tribes have experienced impacts to their culture, spirituality, and way of life. 

“We need to change the system in order for salmon and our people (Newe) to survive. Removing the Lower Four Snake River dams will help restore our fisheries, protect our culture and create a better future for our Tribal membership.”

Sources:
www.nimiipuuprotecting.org/act-now and www.sbtribes.com/saveidahosalmon/ 
Resources:
http://www.sbtribes.com/saveidahosalmon/
https://www.nimiipuuprotecting.org/act-now
#RedRoadtoDC Totem Pole Journey:
https://www.instagram.com/totempolejourney/
https://www.facebook.com/totempolejourney/

More on the Red Road Totem Pole Journey:
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.

For Media Inquiries:
Brad Angerman |  Tlingit  | Pyramid Communications
bangerman@pyramidcommunications.com