House of Tears Carvers displaying new totem pole this weekend at Chehalis reservation

It's one of the last stops in Washington state on the The Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey to Protect Sacred Sites this summer

Jewell James describes the new totem pole, showing its features before it was painted earlier in 2021.
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If you missed the chance to meet the House of Tears Carvers when they were in Olympia two weeks ago, you've got another chance this weekend.  They are displaying their new totem pole at the Chehalis Reservation's Public Safety building during Chehalis Tribal Days. 

The 24-foot-tall totem pole is carved from a 400-year-old western red cedar tree. Its images symbolize the challenges facing the earth and her people, especially the Native Americans whose stories are told during the dedication presentations in cities around Washington and beyond. 

The carvers are preparing for a national tour: The Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey to Protect Sacred Sites, July 13-Aug. 4.  

As of Wed., May 26, they have made more than 47 stops at sacred sites, villiages, cities and tribes throughout western Washington, including Olympia two weeks ago and the Nisqually Indian Tribe last week.  They began a West Coast tour this week that will take them to some 50 locations as far away as San Diego and Durango, Colorado. 

Following this, the cross-country tour begins on July 14, departing from Semiahmoo near Bellingham, east to planned locations in Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota before a planned arrival at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. on July 29. 

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