Last Thursday, Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral welcomed the Lummi Nation on their 2016 Totem Pole Journey across Canada and the United States. The 22-foot western red cedar pole, carved and donated by Master Carver Jewell Praying Wolf James, was driven on a flatbed truck in front of the cathedral where Lummi elders Linda Sorriano and Randy Peters performed the smudging ceremony. Cleansing smoke lifted the more than 400 participants’ prayers up into the Spirit World, up to the Creator, ridding those assembled of negative emotions and energy.
The Lummi Nation is making the 4,800 mile journey to celebrate the gains made in protecting indigenous land rights from energy companies. One year ago, the Lummi nation prevented the development of a coal port at Cherry Point, Washington, which would have been the largest coal port in North America. The journey also draws attention to the threat that coal and petroleum companies pose to lands protected 
by Federal treaties, as well as many of the sites where local tribes have guaranteed fishing rights.
The celebration included presentations by tribal leaders, environmental groups, and faith communities. The totem pole’s carver, Jewell Praying Wolf James, explained the significance of each element in the totem. After the presentations, attendees blessed the pole and gave their own prayers of healing for the Earth. The celebrations wrapped up with delicious food from a number of local food trucks and drumming outside of the cathedral’s entrance.
The Totem Pole Journey came to Seattle just as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry called on the Episcopal Church to stand with and support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline would threaten the reservation’s drinking water and disturb sacred lands. The Lummi Nation’s Totem Pole Journey reminds us that we must join with all people to honor our covenant with the Earth.
You can read more about the Totem Pole Journey here:
