Existing comment:
Peace – War
SOVERIGNTY [sic]
A male bear represents Father Sky above the Grandfather Sun.
The eagles are symbols of courage and great vision. Held up by the strength and endurance of the bears, they remind us that as we move forward with courage as a united people, we must use our great vision to make the right choices to protect our liberty and freedom.
A female bear represents Mother Earth above the Grandmother Moon on the Turtle's shell.
Liberty - Freedom
The Symbolism of the Poles
The classic structure represents a house, reminding all Americans we live under one roof. The colors red, yellow. black and white are united in these poles representing the diversity of the United States.
The Liberty Pole depicts a female bear with a "grandmother moon" in her abdomen. The Freedom Pole depicts a male bear with "grandfather sun." The 34-foot Sovereignty Crossbar joining the latter two poles has eagles carved on each end, with two sets of seven feathers representing American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. The female eagle symbolizes peace, and the male symbolizes war.
The poles honor those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families and men and women in uniform that gave their lives for our freedom and liberty - policeman, firemen, soldiers.
Lummi Nation of Washington State
Open Spaces * Sacred Places
"Native people know what grief is. We know what pain and suffering is. But we also know how to put our arms around one another"
-- Jewell Praying Wolf James, Master Carver. of the House of Tears Carvers
Congressional Cemetery
Capitol Hill Community Foundation
The Turtle:
Lummi carvers of Washington State felt a spiritual call to add the turtle to the healing pole as they were carving, but did not understand why they felt called to include this symbol. During their journey, the poles made stops in nearly 40 American Indian Nations where they were prayed over and blesses by tribes. It was not until the end of the 4,500 mile journey across the continent when the poles were delivered into the care of the Piscataway Tribe of Maryland, that the deeper connection was revealed: the Turtle is also the Piscataway clan symbol and the Anacostia river bank was their homeland where the healing poles now reside.
Originally located at the Pentagon in 2004, Liberty and Freedom, are one of 3 memorial totems - Healing, located outside New York City, and Honoring located in Shankesville, PA. More than 80 people from the Lummi are other Nations helped harvest, prepare, carve and paint the healing poles.
The poles are meant too connect the past and present. While it may commemorate a tragedy or honor the dead, its power reaches beyond the loss to actually touch each viewer with the power to heal grief. |