By Kira Erickson

kerickson@whidbeynewsgroup.com

The first leg of an important awareness campaign begins on Whidbey Island.

The House of Tears Carvers of the Lummi Nation are setting out on a totem pole journey to protect Oak Flat, a sacred site for the Apache people and many other Native Americans. The trip, which spans 33 days, 41 stops and 6,584 miles, starts right in Coupeville and Langley.

Around noon on Monday, Feb. 27, the House of Tears Carvers will bring their totem pole by the area outside of the Coupeville Library. Later that day, the carvers will travel further down the island, to the lawn outside Healing Circles in Langley. A blessing for the totem pole will be held around 4 p.m., although the carvers plan to be in Langley from 3 to 5 p.m.

Anybody will be able to see or touch the pole, whose final destination is Oak Flat, which is located southeast of Phoenix, Arizona.

“This is a living exhibit. We pray over the pole,” said Road Manager Freddie Lane.

Over the last two decades, Lane has organized several totem pole journeys for the House of Tears Carvers. Past tours have highlighted other plights, from the terrorist attacks on 9/11 to threats facing indigenous peoples to captured orca Tokitae, who was given the name Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut by the Lummi. Just over 50 years ago, she was abducted from her home waters and taken to the Miami Seaquarium, where she still resides.

Lane said it is significant for the Lummi to return to Penn Cove, where this happened. In the Lummi language, the term for killer whales is qwe ‘lhol mechen, meaning “our relations below the waves.” Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s name is derived from Sk’ali, an ancient village near Penn Cove.

“That is part of our story that we have to continue to share with our friends there on Whidbey Island,” Lane said.

The totem pole journey is, above all, a prayerful journey.

Anne Hayden, a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey Island, helped start a program called the Native Connections Initiative, which invited the House of Tears Carvers to come to Langley. Hayden said many other Unitarian churches along the totem pole’s route are hosting the carvers.

“They just have an amazing capacity to do this kind of environmental activism in a prayerful way, embodying the totem poles they’ve carved,” she said.

The event in Langley is free, but donations are always welcome. Hayden encouraged participants to dress warmly for the weather.

“We’ve very privileged to be the very first stop,” she said.

After making a number of stops around the Salish Sea, the totem pole journey will continue on towards Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, as it is known to the Apache people. In 2014, a bill passed by the Arizona State Legislature allowed mining company Resolution Copper access to this area, located in Tonto National Forest, to build the nation’s largest copper mine.

Lian BigHorse of Apache-Stronghold explained that mining efforts will destroy natural aquifers and pollute the region, among other things.

“This area is where we have our coming-of-age ceremony for our people,” she said. “It is an attack on not only who we are, as people, but our religion.”

The Apache are fighting to repeal the exchange of land. During the week of March 20, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California will hear arguments on the issue. BigHorse said the case not only sets a precedent for indigenous religions, but for all religions.

The House of Tears Carvers will be making the journey to the court with the Apache-Stronghold.

“We feel really blessed that they’re going to come with us,” she said. “We have many different tribes who will join us on this journey.”