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Blood visitors Leroy Little Bear and his wife Amethyst First Rider visited the team of carvers working on the Language Revitalization Pole in Port Alberni and offered spiritual support and a blessing. Rose Thater Braan-Imai of Tuscarora, California was also among the delegation that stood with master carver Tim Paul and his team.
Paul said the spiritual support brought his carvers strength to carry on, despite a lack of funds to keep the project on schedule. The pole is to bring recognition to Indigenous languages around the world.
In a newly-released four-minute video, Paul talks about the spiritual support the visitors gave to the carving team and how they were encouraged by it, spurring them on to make sure they finish the pole this year.
The pole could be completed by the middle of October, which will make it possible for the pole to be raised this year during the 2019 U.N. Year of Indigenous Languages. That will depend on whether the funds for the engineering work can be found quickly, reads a press statement.
“People must realize the power of prayer,” said Paul. “What Leroy does for us, what Rose does for us, when they go back home, the spiritual connection – that cord – can go a long way and reach and travel.
Those who would like to contribute to the Language Revitalization Pole project can do so through the donation link on the First Nations Education Fund website at https://fnef.ca/donate/.