Reprint: Times Herald-Record
September 08, 2002

9/11 HEALING POLE DEDICATED

By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
   

Monroe – Indian drums and singing echoed through the trees in Arrow Park yesterday as a group of Lummi Indians dedicated a totem pole they carved this summer as a symbol of healing for the families of Sept. 11 victims.

Tribe members had hauled their 1-ton "healing pole" across the country from the Lummi reservation in northwest Washington state, a two-week journey with stops at other Indian reservations.

They held a small ceremony in the park Friday morning as they raised the 13-foot-tall pole beside Arrow Lake.

Yesterday, for the formal dedication, nearly 250 people sat or stood in a field to watch as the Lummis sang mournful chants while beating flat, hand-held drums.

In the crowd were families of firefighters who died at the World Trade Center nearly a year ago. They had attended special programs at Arrow Park this summer, held to help them cope with their grief.

Brian Germain, a firefighter with Engine 80 in Manhattan, was sitting in the shade during the ceremony. His brother, Denis, a 33-year-old Ladder 1 firefighter who lived in Tuxedo, died Sept. 11. Brian Germain's two children, ages 8 and 10, stayed at Arrow Park for five days this summer.

Germain, who lives in Greenwood Lake, said he was impressed with the Lummis' colorful pole – so different from other memorials, he said, and full of symbolism he thought was beautiful.

"This is very unique, their gift," he said. "I've never heard of anything like this before."

Marie Giordano, whose firefighter husband, Jeffrey, was killed at the World Trade Center, said the ceremony was a welcome distraction as the Sept. 11 anniversary approaches. All she can think about, she said, is those people sitting at their desks when the planes hit, and her husband and his comrades rushing up stairs to save them.

"This was a nice break from that," she said, her face weary.

After the singing ended and a green tarp was removed from the pole, Lummi tribe members spoke from a makeshift stage under two trees. Gordon Adams, vice chairman of the Lummi Nation, expressed deep sympathy for the children of those who died and thanked the volunteers who worked with them this summer.

"I can't imagine what they're going through," Adams said of the children. "God bless them, and God bless you."

"We love this country," he said. "We are proud to be Americans, too – Native Americans."

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