Communities across the country are asking US President Joe Biden to protect places sacred to the indigenous peoples of America.
American Indians delivered a totem pole with a height of about 7.5 m and a weight of over two tons to Washington, thereby calling on US President Joe Biden to protect the sacred places for the indigenous peoples of America.
Craftsmen make the pole from the Lammi tribe, which lives in the territory of Washington State on the west coast of the United States. Transportation of the totem to the capital, located on the east coast of the country, took about two weeks. The corresponding action was called Red Road to D.C. The totem made its way across the country, while the organizers of the action made stops in sacred places to American Indians. “The totem pole honors places sacred to indigenous peoples and is a gift to [the administration], as well as an urgent call to action. Communities across the country are asking President Biden to protect sacred sites immediately,” the campaign’s website says.
Before going to Washington, the manufacturers of the totem pole traveled with him to “more than a hundred communities across the country” to draw attention to the threat to which the places revered by the indigenous peoples of America are exposed due to the implementation of projects in the oil and gas and mining industries.
On Thursday, a solemn ceremony was held in Washington on the occasion of the totem’s arrival in the capital. The head of the US Department of the Interior, Deb Haaland, who is the first representative of the indigenous population of America in this post, took part in it. In the United States, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not a law enforcement agency, as it deals mainly with the use of federal lands and the extraction of natural resources, and also oversees various programs related to American Indians, native inhabitants of Alaska, and Hawaii.
Until July 31, the totem pole will be located in front of the National Museum of the American Indian, where every resident and guest of the American capital will be able to see it. According to The Washington Post, after that, the organizers of the action expect to find a place in Washington or its surroundings where it would be possible to place the pole permanently.
