of the total pole coming to d.c. and native american issues is fawn sharp, the president of the national council of american indians. thank you for joining us. guest: thank you. i am happy to be here. host: can we start a little bit about your organization? what do you do? guest: the national congress of american indians is the oldest and largest national organizations of sovereign nations in this country, founded in 1944. we are very active in staging and advancing native americans. host: can you describe the red road to d.c.? guest: the red road to d.c. began on the west coast and traveled across the country raising awareness that we must all, not just native americans, but all across the country protect sacred sites. it was a call to action and unify the country and raise awareness about the state of emergency regarding our sacred sites and the environment. host: we showed the total pole that has been traveling across the united states in a washington, d.c. can you talk a little but -- a little bit about the pole and what it symbolizes with the issues you are concerned about? guest: with respect to the pole itself

national congress of american indians. adrian stevens, the acting board chair of the national american indian housing council, and also the executive director of the seneca national housing authority and a member of the seneca nation. the senior vice president for community development, and the center for indian country development at the minneapolis federal reserve bank. the chief executive officer of the american indian community development corporation in minneapolis, minnesota and also the chair of the board of the commissioners -- excuse me, the chair of the board of the commissioners of the housing and community development agency. greetings to my fellow minnesotans. also, eric shepherd, the executive director of the housing authority and south dakota. eric is also a member of the community. welcome and thank you all of you for your willingness to speak with us today and i look forward to hearing from each of you. before you begin your opening statements, just a few reminders. once you start speaking, there will be a slight delay before you are displayed on the screen. to minimize background noise, please click the m