Embassy Dedicated in Advance of Conference
Alma Ransom at Tribal Nations Embassy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the sun rose in the nation’s capital, more than 70 tribal leaders from around the country stood in the rear parking lot of a Washington townhouse-turned-office building and circled a small fire.
Each held a handful of sage and tobacco to toss into the flames, and the people listened or prayed along as Alma Ransom of the Mohawk Bear Clan stood and voiced aloud her thanks to the Creator — in English and in her traditional language.
She pointed to the smoke “piercing the sky” and gave thanks to the four winds and the four directions, and she led the group as it turned in unison, east-north-west-and-south, never minding the backyard views and the waking street noises of an urban neighborhood in the nation’s capital.
