Lummi Nation sets Port Townsend gathering

Event precedes a totem journey this month

PORT TOWNSEND — Lummi Nation tribal members with the House of Tears Carvers will stage an event in Port Townsend on Sunday, prior to taking a totem pole on a national tour.

The public is invited to the event in the north parking lot at QUUF, 2333 San Juan Ave., at about 11:30 a.m.

The House of Tears carvers are taking a totem pole to the Clean Energy Justice Convergence in Pittsburgh, Pa., as a call to action at the Sept. 21-23 gathering hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, according to Debra Ellers, co-founder of the orca advocacy group North Olympic Orca Pod.

The carvers will bring an honor pole dedicated to Chief Tsilixw (Bill James), hereditary chief of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) people, according to the East Shore Unitarian Church.

It is the latest of more than a dozen journeys made by the Lummi Nation over the past 20 years to educate and advocate with the alliance of Earth, Sky and Water protectors, one of which was the trek to take the Shared Responsibility totem carved by Jewell James to Washington, D.C., in 2021.

“This journey builds upon, strengthens and reaffirms the growing indigenous-led climate justice movements that began with a successful campaign to oppose proposed fossil fuel projects in the Pacific Northwest,” Ellers said in a press release.

”This journey is dedicated to communities in Appalachia and around the world who are on the front lines of fossil fuel-based energy extraction and environmental devastation, and to the growing movement of Earth, Sky and Water protectors working to advance truly clean energy solutions and hasten a just transition away from fossil fuels and false solutions,” she said in the release.

The Alliance of Earth, Sky and Water protectors include the House of Tears Carvers of Lummi nation, sulkadub strategies, the Natural History Museum, Sacred Trust, e3c, Arm in Arm, Catskill Mountainkeeper, se’si’le Foundation, Tiny House Warriors, Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment, Earthball of Orcas island and the New Old Time Chautauqua.

More information can be found on the Facebook page, Our Shared Responsibility: A Totem Pole Journey .

More in News

Power restored after more than 6,300 lose electricity

A fault on a Bonneville Power Administration transmission line… Continue reading

Tim Morland, front, and Rich Lear of Tualatin, Ore.-based Field Turf USA add fill to the playing surface at the new Monroe Athletic Field on Tuesday at the site of the former Monroe School near Roosevelt Elementary School in Port Angeles. The synthetic turf field, which is expected to be completed by mid-autumn, is being developed by the Port Angeles School District and will be available for community athletic events. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Monroe field prep

Tim Morland, front, and Rich Lear of Tualatin, Ore.-based Field Turf USA… Continue reading

Petitions developed by local citizens seek to keep the “new” Towne Road unpaved and open to hikers and walkers. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Public comment sought about Sequim’s Towne Road future

Meeting for residents scheduled for Tuesday

Eran Kennedy.
Sound regional publisher stresses local connections

Partnerships offer lifeline despite struggling industry

A crew from Port Townsend Public Works watches as a backhoe removes water-logged timber from a sinkhole on Kearney Street outside the Food Co-op on Tuesday at the start of construction of a traffic circle at the intersection of state Highway 20/East Sims Way and Kearney Street in Port Townsend. Traffic heading eastbound toward Port Townsend will detour at Benedict Street and turn left on Washington Street to return to Highway 20/East Sims Way. Traffic going westbound away from Port Townsend will turn right at Kearney Street and left onto Jefferson Street to continue on Highway 20. The detour configuration will last about four weeks, according to the state Department of Transportation. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Roundabout construction

A crew from Port Townsend Public Works watches as a backhoe removes… Continue reading

Members of the Bagley family of Forsyth, Ill., from left, parents Jessica and Cameron Bagley, and children Cody, 10, Addie, 12, and C.J., 7, look at an information kiosk on the Olympic National Park wildfires on Tuesday in front of the park visitor center in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Blazes spread in center of Olympic National Park

Large helicopters requested to keep fires at bay

Wreck shuts down US 101 south of Brinnon for five hours

A semitrailer driver accused of falling asleep at the wheel… Continue reading

Peninsula College sophomores Ian Coughran, left, and Ciera Skelly were two of seven students participating in the inaugural Pathway Summer School at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory this summer that focused on education and career development in STEM fields. Both Coughran and Skelly plan to pursue degrees in environmental science. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
Internship through college presents career pathways

Students part of inaugural class at Sequim laboratory

Most Read