Booshoo, greeting my friends and relatives across Mother Earth.

This is Great-grandmother Mary Lyons, Ojibwe Elder, Wisdom Keeper, Water Carrier, Author, One of the Four Co-Founders of the Grandmothers of the Sacred

Currently, you might have read about the mass graves of Indigenous children being found all over Canada and the United States that are on the grounds of the Native Government Boarding Schools. The goal is to bring these children home after decades of none closure to all the families that were dismantled through the process of "Kill the Indian, Save the man!" education. You may have been reading about our Water issues throughout the lands and the companies that are coming into our territories and placing havoc within our ECO systems/watersheds and not to mention our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives.

We will begin our Healing Journey in the West, we are driving to California to meet up with the Native Prayer Runners and Tribes to begin the Healing Prayers and bring light to untold history. We will be joining our Japanese relatives that they too also faced the removal act of taking their children to Orphanages and one being just outside the Lone Pine Reservation called Manzanar Relocation Camp.  We will gather with elders and join in on two worlds that speak through their Drums, one Native and thee other Japanese. Then we will continue onto other Sacred sites in prayer and meet up with the Totem Caravan in Minnesota or sooner (depending on the weather and road conditions), them onto Washington DC via through more sacred sites.

We will be traveling in 3 vans for 20 days, starting from Minnesota to California and back towards Minnesota and moving towards Washington DC to the events that are concluding this Healing Journey on the 28th and 29th of July, 2021. So, we are reaching out and asking for donations to help us get there. We are bringing our Medicine Dancers and for those who don't know what this is; they are Ojibwe Jingle Dress Dancers, this is a picture of myself and my family. We will begin on the 13th of this month and return home August 3, 2021

For me, this will truly be a healing journey as my family along with many others that we know experienced the dismantling of Native families in the earlier years and placed into Government Boarding Schools or Orphanages and tagging our parents with TB medical problems that were not true, they were medically experimented on. Many people say "let it go" but that is very difficult when the truth begins to surface such as the events of today. So, this is why this is so near and dear to me as we never thought we would see the full light into untold hidden history, now, it's time to heal. When we heard of the Carvers from the State of Washington doing this, we strongly felt we had to be a part of this, so, we would like to share a bit more information to all about the next leg of the Healing Journey with the Totem.

The Totem is coming through our Minnesota Reservation Territories and my family and other elders will be joining them in Northern Minnesota and traveling with them to Bay Mills, Michigan and driving onto Washington DC. This will be a healing journey for myself and other elders as we never through we would witness the lightness to such a dark place, but its here. We want to say their names, we want the world to really know our history, that we should never hide the truth and most importantly, we never make these mistakes again. Here is a brief description of the event and you can follow the journey through; "Red Road to DC" on Facebook and FB as well.

BRIEF DISCRIPTION OF THE EVENT WE WILL BE TRAVELING WITH:

A 5,000-pound totem pole that was hand-carved by Native Americans is coming from Washington State to be on display in the nation’s capital this summer after a journey that organizers hope will raise awareness about protecting land that is sacred to tribes.

The totem pole’s journey on a tractor-trailer, which organizers are calling the “Red Road to D.C.,” involves a two-week trek led by about a dozen people, many of whom are Native Americans and members of the Lummi Nation, a tribe of about 5,000 members west of Bellingham, Wash.

In preparation for the journey, the group took the pole on a tour this spring along the West Coast and parts of the South. Group members will hit the road again in mid-July, arriving in the nation’s capital by July 29. The pole will be on display for two days on the Mall and outside the entrance of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Our funds we are requesting will cover all travel expenses for 15 people; rented van, gas, rooms and food with a reserve of any emergency costs. (Each one that are joining the journey must cover all their own costs)

In closing, we want to thank you for always being there for me and thank you for what your financial gift that will help us with this healing journey.

Great-grandmother Mary Lyons