Capitol Christmas tree honors Native Americans
This year's Capitol Christmas Tree on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol honors Native Americans. Each year the tree comes from a national forest. This year's tree came from from the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. The tree has been named “wa’feem’tekwi” by the Shawnee Tribe and means “bright tree” in the Shawnee language. It is pronounced phonetically “wa thame tech we”. Shawn Cochran, Forest Supervisor for Monongahela National Forest, said "it honors their language, their cultural heritage and their traditions. It reminds us in the National Forest System of our trusted authorities and responsibilities to be good stewards of the Shawnee and ancestral homelands." Jim Kaufmann, Director of the Capitol Grounds and Arboretum said "we will set the tree into the west front lawn and our Capitol grounds and Arboretum team will work tirelessly over the next several days to make sure that the tree is lit with thousands of LED lights and beautiful handmade ornaments from the Shawnee tribe and the surrounding West Virginia community.”
