Stand with the Lummi at Totem Pole Blessing

Sunday, August 17 at 9:30 a.m. at the Tribal Admin Center on the Lummi Reservation

— from Matt Petyrini of REsources —

Sponsored by REsources for Sustainable Communities, Power Past Coa,l Sierra Club and

In the late 1980s, faith communities all over the region made a sacred commitment to the Native people of the Pacific Northwest: to work to make right the centuries of injustice brought against them, and to answer the call when the first nations tribes ask them to take a stand for human rights.

The proposal to build North America’s largest coal export terminal on the sacred sites and ancestral homelands of the Lummi people at Cherry Point has, in the words of Lummi elders, risen to that urgency.

Communities of faith are answering their call. This month, Lummi elders will travel to congregations all over the region who will deliver on their commitment by joining first nations tribes standing against coal export and further degradation of treaty fishing rights. At each congregation, the House of Tears Carvers will invite those congregations to help bless a very special totem pole for this occasion, one that will ultimately be presented to tribes in the Canadian tar sands resisting the continued assault on their own homelands.

It’s an honor to be able to invite you to the first of the many blessing ceremonies along this journey, hosted this weekend at the Lummi Nation.

Please  RSVP here

Directions to the Lummi Nation Blessing Ceremony and Launch
Sunday, August 17 at the Tribal Admin Center,  2665 Kwina Road,
Lummi Reservation

• Travel from Anacortes to I-5 on State highway 20
• Follow I-5 North for about 30 miles to Slater Rd in Whatcom County. Take exit 260 from I-5 N
• Continue on Slater Rd. Drive to Kwina Rd for about 6 miles
• Turn left onto Slater Rd for 3.7 miles
• Turn left onto Haxton Way for 1.8 miles
• Turn left onto Kwina Rd; Destination will be on the left

The House of Tears Carvers have completed a totem pole to demonstrate continued resistance to the proposed coal terminal. This year, they would like to strengthen relationships that underpin tribal resistance — not only to coal projects in the Northwest, but also with tribes and faith leaders in the Dakotas resisting oil extraction at the source of exploding trains.

Please stand up and be part of this very special moment for our community. It is critical we continue to stand behind the Lummi people as they lead the resistance against harmful projects, to learn from the lessons of their elders as they are gracious to share with us, and to answer the call to honor the treaties with first nations across the region.

Matt Petryni is the Clean Energy Program Manager for REsources and Power Past Coal. www.re-sources.org/ppc