SPIRIT CAMPS AND TOTEM POLE UNVEILING WITH THE

IHANKTONWAN OYATE

Photos are by James Leder (organizer with the Students for Renewable Energy and activist for decolonization). Shared from Totem Pole Journey. 

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the House of Tears Carvers visited the reservations of the Ihanktonwan Oyate (Yankton Sioux) in South Dakota. While there, the journey met with elders leading the fight to protect sacred waters from the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and other fossil fuel megaprojects. Carvers put finishing touches on the totem pole and shared gifts with the elders of the Ihanktonwan Oyate people.nAlong the way to the Dakotas, carvers came across coal trains from the Powder River Basin.
"Since leaving Bellingham on August 17 we have covered 1500 miles        in four days to get to Ihanktonwan Territory in South Dakota, where I am writing from now ..." Read more: http://totempolejourney.com/2014/08/23/spirit-camps-and-totem-pole-unveiling-with-the-ihanktonwan-oyate/