Events

After thousands of miles traveled and dozens of events across the country on the Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey for the Protection of Sacred Places, we come to the final stop. Join us on the National Mall for a ceremony and rally featuring tribal leaders, Native and allied organizers, and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.

The confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers in the Grand Canyon has been a place of deep cultural significance since time immemorial for 11 associated tribes. In this #RedRoadtoDC “virtual journey” event, we will hear from Diné families who are working to stop three proposed hydroelectric dams that threaten tribal sovereignty and sacred cultural and historic sites.

As record-breaking heat waves and floods ravage our continent, we join members of the Lummi Nation for a coast to coast expedition, transporting a 25-foot, hand-carved and painted totem pole from Washington State to Washington D.C., visiting many sacred and historic places under threat from dams, climate change, and resource extraction.

Since time immemorial, the salmon have been sacred to the identities, traditions, and cultural lifeways of Alaska Native peoples. Today, both the salmon and the people that steward them are imperiled by the toxic effects of mineral extraction and industrial logging, and impacted communities are fighting back.

This exhibition features a 3,000 pound killer whale (orca) totem carved by the House of Tears Carvers and an award-winning multi-channel film installation that tells the story of the environmental emergency through the figure of the killer whale. It also tells the story of the leadership of Native Nations in protecting the Salish Sea, the orcas, the salmon, and our collective future.