“ is going to collect all of that good spiritual energy as it travels and touches the sacred places – all of that good medicine,” she added. That the totem pole will pass through so many other sacred places before reaching her own community is not lost on Gravelle. It will be a day of celebration, Gravelle said, honoring not just the sacredness of the waters but the tribe’s relationship to them. When the totem pole stops in Mackinaw City on July 27, the community plans to hold a water ceremony on the Straits of Mackinac, as well as songs and other activities. “We have this connection with land and water and the Straits of Mackinac that is deeply tied to our cultural, our traditional and our spiritual identity,” Gravelle said, noting that both Line 5 and any additional construction “can actually cause damage to numerous archaeological resources, artifacts and other paleo landscapes that all describe and are a part of our history here in the state of Michigan, as well as in the Great Lakes.” An executive order is reviving effort to protect them (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images) George Frey/Getty ImagesĪ rocky corner in southern Utah has brought 5 tribes together. The newly created Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, are under review by the Trump Administration to help determine their future status. In turn, tribal citizens were granted the right to fish, hunt and gather in that territory, which includes the waters of the Great Lakes and the Straits of Mackinac, said Whitney Gravelle, chairwoman of the Bay Mills Indian Community.īLANDING, UT - MAY 11 The two bluffs known as the "Bears Ears" stand off in the distance at sunset in the Bears Ears National Monument on outside Blanding, Utah. Under a treaty made in 1836, the tribe ceded land to the US for the creation of Michigan. ![]() The Straits of Mackinac connect Lakes Michigan and Huron, and are sacred waters for the Bay Mills Indian Community and other tribal nations in the area. ![]() There, the Bay Mills Indian Community has been fighting the existing Line 5 pipeline, as well as a plan to build a new pipeline tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. ![]() Mackinaw City, Michigan, is one of the stops on the tour. “That collectively, by building and utilizing the power of our prayers and our beliefs and our hopes and our organizing, we are able to make transformational change happen.” “The Lummi Carvers are offering their totem pole as a way to gather the prayers and hopes of many different tribal nations, to bring people together and help each area and tribal nation understand they are not alone,” said Judith LeBlanc, director of the Native Organizers Alliance, one of the journey’s sponsors. The pole will be making stops across the US to raise awareness about the efforts to protect sacred waters and lands. The totem pole will travel to key cultural sites where battles over land and water rights are playing out, including Bears Ears in Utah, the Black Hills in South Dakota and the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.īy connecting these places through one journey, organizers hope to bring attention to the challenges each individual community faces and ultimately, build momentum for the last stop in Washington, DC.Ī visitor touches a totem pole made by the House of Tears Carvers during a stop in Miami. ![]() Upon its arrival in Washington, DC, the totem pole will be presented to President Joe Biden’s administration: partially in recognition of the climate actions it has taken so far and also as a reminder of the promises the federal government made to the first inhabitants of this land. “We have an opinion, and we want to be heard.” “By going out and uniting and informing the public, we create a greater voice,” said Jewell “Praying Wolf” James, House of Tears lead carver and a citizen of the Lummi Nation. Their goal: To protect those sacred sites from the existential threats of the climate crisis and extractive industries – and to ensure tribal nations have a seat at the table when decisions affecting them are made. Alex Kormann/Star Tribune/Getty ImagesĪs spring thaws the Minnesota ice, a new pipeline battle fires up on Monday, Jto protest the construction of Enbridge Line 3. A makeshift "black snake" resembling a pipeline was carried as 2,000 indigenous leaders and "water protectors" from around the country marched along Highway 9 in Clearwater County, Minn.
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