Sacred Obligations (Red Road) Totem Pole Journey
to Washington, DC
May/June, 2021

A 25-foot totem pole, intricately hand-carved and painted by Native Americans, was brought to the nation’s capital after a two-week cross-country journey from Washington state, as part of a campaign to protect sacred tribal lands.

Hauled on a flatbed trailer, the roughly 5,000-pound totem pole was brought to the front entrance of the National Museum of the American Indian on the Mall, where a small crowd came to welcome it. Douglas James, a Lummi Nation member who was one of the pole’s carvers and traveled with the group that brought it across the United States, said they met thousands of people along their journey — many of whom became emotional as they touched the pole.

Learn more at the Red Road to DC website

2021 Red Road Totem Accepted by Sec Int Deb Haaland