MAN: Our next story is about a gift to New York city from the Lummi Indians of Washington State in the wake of 9/11.

Working with conservation groups in upstate New York, they created two healing totem poles that were intended to face each other from opposite coasts. Recently, they brought one of them to Sterling Forest, north of New York City and dedicated it to the children of those who died 9/11.

JEWELL JAMES: It’s a humble pole. We wanted to do a 24 to a 30 footer, but we were afraid of how big it would be, and the weight, after transporting it over 3000 miles to Sterling Forest. So we talked ‘em into 13 footer, one for each of the original states. The Lummi Indian Nation was really moved by the whole idea and they wanted to help donate this log to the children of the people that perished in the Twin Towers. It’s a 140-147 year old log. It was a sapling when our treaties were being negotiated seven generations ago. And so, the brothers and the houseateers(?) carvers began to carve it. There was extensive working with the other carvers. We’re working long days and everyday. And then over the next two weeks, we pretty much started doing clean up on it and preparing it for painting. My wife and my kids began to do the painting. We chose an eagle because it represents sky power, father power, so it represents the men and the fathers that died in the attack. We chose the bear mother because she walks on the earth and she’s earth child and she represents the mothers that died in the twin towers. You can see the mother bear’s holding that bear cub, as a mother would. Protectively holding it to herself. In this way, mothers are always with their children. And so we thought that the bear cub would represent those children that both perished as well as the children left behind without parents. We chose the four colors because it represents the four races there are, red people, black people, white people and yellow people inside those towers. Somebody from all races died that day. We have to ask ourselves. Is the ground zero a sacred site? Maybe to many Americans, it’s not. But you know to families who lost a loved one, it’s a sacred site. When we began to plan this journey, we realized that the tribes all long the Louis and Clark trail from 1806 were concerned about sacred sites on that trail and that we’re going through the reverse route. We’re bringing the pole almost spot for spot. So our tribe decided to stop it on reservations where those tribes greeted Louis and Clark two hundred years ago and asked them, “Could you come forward and help? Would you call your elders and have them pray for these children?” We chose to do this because we wanted to have a way, as our elders from Vancouver Island said, to say something to you. Even though we suffer our own grief, even though we suffer our own losses, he says to let you know this, we love you.

Remember it’s all about love. It’s about those children. The firemen’s children, the policemen’s children, and all those people in there. So I’m proud of them to let me try because they said, “Let’s reach out, even though those children don’t know us. Let’s express our love. That they’re not forgotten either. And let’s pray for their healing.

Print Transcript