TULALIP – “Love the earth,” master carver Jewel James passionately yelled to a crowd on the beach as Canada geese swam in calm Tulalip Bay. “The earth’s dying.”
James is part of a group that is taking a totem he carved from the Lummi Reservation near Bellingham to the North Cheyenne Reservation in Lame Deer, Mont. The totem was at Tulalip Aug. 23, but plans to stop at many other reservations for moral and spiritual support.
The goal has been to raise public awareness and strengthen opposition to the export of fossil fuels (coal and oil) from the West Coast.
“Taking from our mother earth is not our way,” a Tulalip Tribes poster says. “Join us in supporting Lummi as they begin their journey of protest.”
The specific goal of this totem is to stop the expansion of coal mining there. James said sacred land is being strip-mined.
“We’re grieving the loss of our property,” he said. “Companies are lobbying people and giving them a lot of money.”
If mining expands there, coal would be brought to Cherry Point and shipped to Asia. The Lummi tribe opposes that because of new pollution that would be created near its fishing waters.
James said air, water and land need to be preserved for our children. But instead, salmon are dying because of higher temperatures in rivers, poison is peeling off skin of salmon and rivers are being siphoned dry.
“We are united,” he said. “We need the power of prayer in all forms.”
Douglas James, who gave the prayer, said: “It’s not about us. It’s about what God wants us to do.”
Sharon Abreu came to the totem blessing from Orcas Island. She said the issue of taking care of the environment has brought the Lummi tribe closer to the surrounding community.
“It should have happened a long time ago,” Abreu said. “This horrible oil stuff brought us together in trust and friendship. Nothing is more beautiful than that healing.”
Kelly Moses of the Tulalip Tribes thanked everyone for coming and as a carver himself described James’ work as “a very beautiful piece.”
The 22-foot-long totem includes an eagle at the top, a medicine wheel, two badgers, two turtles and a lizard. They symbolize the desire to make wise decisions to protect the environment.
Tulalip Chairman Mel Sheldon said he appreciated the support of environmentalists on this issue. He also introduced state Sen. John McCoy, D-Tulalip. He said the legislature is working with Puget Sound Energy to buy the mines and shut them down. He also said the state government is working on water, oil, coal and crude oil trains.
The Rev. Carmen TenEyck-McDowell of the Evergreen Unitarian Church on 4th Avenue in Marysville brought marigolds to place on the totem that were raised by the congregation’s children in its community garden. Carolyn and Autumn Moses blessed the totem in song.
