Canoe Journey builds bridges between cultures
‘We can work together and sustain together’
By Richard Walker, Today correspondent
Story Published: Jul 27, 2010
Photo by Molly Neely-Walker
The Nooksack Canoe Family arrived at Bayview, Wash., July 10, during the 2010 Canoe Journey. The final destination in this year’s Canoe Journey was Makah Nation, on the most northwestern point of the Olympic Peninsula.
Pulling
in the Canoe Journey, on the waters traveled by the ancestors, is
often a spiritual experience.
It can also be a hazardous one.
Three canoes overturned in rough waters off Point Wilson, near the entrance to Admiralty Inlet, July 15. There were no injuries and the canoes were recovered. But several canoe families chose to trailer their canoes from Fort Worden to Lower Elwha Klallam, near Port Angeles.
Deliverance, and a hymn sung by a 9-year-old Sliammon girl, added a deep spiritual element to the Journey.
On July 17, with all canoe families safe and enjoying a day of rest at Elwha Klallam, Ta’kaiya Blaney sang “Amazing Grace” in Sliammon at protocol. One line of the song provided confirmation of the canoe pullers’ experience – as well as encouragement for the pull July 18 to Pillar Point and Neah Bay on July 19:
“Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. T’was grace that brought me safe this far, and grace will lead me home.”
Indeed. About 90 canoes arrived safely at Neah Bay at the Makah Nation; this year’s journey was titled “Journey to the Beginning of the World,” appropriate for the most northwestern point in the continental United States where the Strait of Juan de Fuca meets the Pacific Ocean.
The Canoe Journey – this was the 21st annual – is a celebration of Northwest Coast Native culture, a culture that is tied inextricably to the water. While the Journey initially involved canoe cultures from the Salish Sea, its sphere of influence continues to grow. Joining Northwest Coast canoe families were Ainu from Japan, Inuit from Alaska and Greenland, and Maori from New Zealand.
Scott Gow, an Alaska Yup’ik living in Olympia, sounded like a grumpy teenager when his mother first suggested that he pull with friends on the Samish Canoe Family. (His mother, Becky, pulled with a canoe family comprised mostly of Alaska Tlingit.)
“I thought it was just paddling, then I went out. It was really fun,” Scott said. “It was really tiring, but it was really fun.”
By the time he completed the third leg of the Journey, he was changed. He stayed up until midnight playing slahal, a bone game. Someone found his misplaced jacket, and he danced to get it back. Someone found his misplaced phone too, and a friend sang to get it back for him. In appreciation, Scott carved a miniature cedar paddle for his friend. The paddle turned out so well, he carved a small cedar spoon.
The Canoe Journey sparked a renewed interest in his culture. “I learned you have to give respect to everything – the canoe, the drum,” he said. Another thing he learned: “You don’t call the canoe the ‘B’ word,” he said. (Call it a boat, and you have to take a swim.)
The Canoe Journey is also a major tourism draw in the host nations and surrounding communities. Elwha Klallam, the second to last stop on the Peninsula before Makah, served 4,000 people – canoe pullers, families and visitors – at breakfast and dinner for two days. It was quite a feat of coordination.
Sonny Francis, Canoe Journey coordinator at Elwha Klallam, said he did “three months’ work in 60 hours.” How did he prepare? “Through hard work and planning.”
Francis said the Canoe Journey helps non-Native people and Native people get to know each other and builds understanding between cultures. During protocol, audience members are often invited to participate in dances; during a Greenland Inuit presentation at Elwha Klallam, audience members were invited to the floor for a seal dance and traditional games.
“Non-Native people have their traditional dances. We’re not doing anything different than them,” Francis said. “The Canoe Journey is a great big family reunion.”
The Canoe Journey also gives host nations a spotlight in which to show their economic muscle. On July 10, Jamestown S’Klallam dedicated and blessed its new 23,000-square-foot health clinic. From July 16 – 18, Jamestown S’Klallam hosted a salmon dinner, storytelling, carving demonstrations, and tours of its carving shed, where poles for S’Klallam-owned buildings and 7 Cedars Casino are created. Visitors also met Dale Faulstich, master carver and co-author of “Totem Poles of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.”
On July 17, Lower Elwha Klallam dedicated and blessed its new Elwha Klallam Heritage Center, in the heart of Port Angeles. There are longhouse design elements in its architecture, and the centerpiece in the lobby is a copper sculpture of salmon swimming upstream, by Clark Mundy.
The heritage center has a children’s room, classrooms, computer lab, gift shop with window-front café-style seating, and a large kitchen for culinary arts training. The building is decorated with artwork by Elwha Klallam artists Roger Fernandes and Linda Wiechman. The designer was Gentry Architecture Collaborative of Port Angeles.
Heritage center manager Warren Stevens said the center brought the community together from the start. Contractors took ownership of the project and donated a lot of time, or reduced their profits so they could invest more in materials and workmanship.
Stevens said the heritage center will be a tourism draw and an economic contributor to the community. It also makes a statement about who the Elwha Klallam people are.
“It’s saying, ‘We are as one, we’re not separate,’ that tribal people and non-tribal people can get along, can work together and sustain together for the betterment of everybody.”
That theme – of different cultures working together and sustaining together – carried over into Neah Bay, where Makah hosted about 100 canoe families and several thousand visitors through July 24. Local bed and breakfasts, campgrounds and hotels were packed.
Besides enjoying cultural events and presentations, visitors toured the Makah Cultural and Research Center, explored beaches, hiked the Cape Flattery Trail and soaked in the breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and Tatoosh Island.
Makah will again host on Aug. 27 – 29 for the 87th annual Makah Days Celebration. There will be traditional dancing and singing as well as canoe races and slahal games. Makah Days admission is free and open to the public.
Richard Walker is a correspondent reporting from San Juan Island, Wash. Contact him at rmwalker@rockisland.com.
It can also be a hazardous one.
Three canoes overturned in rough waters off Point Wilson, near the entrance to Admiralty Inlet, July 15. There were no injuries and the canoes were recovered. But several canoe families chose to trailer their canoes from Fort Worden to Lower Elwha Klallam, near Port Angeles.
Deliverance, and a hymn sung by a 9-year-old Sliammon girl, added a deep spiritual element to the Journey.
On July 17, with all canoe families safe and enjoying a day of rest at Elwha Klallam, Ta’kaiya Blaney sang “Amazing Grace” in Sliammon at protocol. One line of the song provided confirmation of the canoe pullers’ experience – as well as encouragement for the pull July 18 to Pillar Point and Neah Bay on July 19:
“Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. T’was grace that brought me safe this far, and grace will lead me home.”
Indeed. About 90 canoes arrived safely at Neah Bay at the Makah Nation; this year’s journey was titled “Journey to the Beginning of the World,” appropriate for the most northwestern point in the continental United States where the Strait of Juan de Fuca meets the Pacific Ocean.
The Canoe Journey – this was the 21st annual – is a celebration of Northwest Coast Native culture, a culture that is tied inextricably to the water. While the Journey initially involved canoe cultures from the Salish Sea, its sphere of influence continues to grow. Joining Northwest Coast canoe families were Ainu from Japan, Inuit from Alaska and Greenland, and Maori from New Zealand.
Scott Gow, an Alaska Yup’ik living in Olympia, sounded like a grumpy teenager when his mother first suggested that he pull with friends on the Samish Canoe Family. (His mother, Becky, pulled with a canoe family comprised mostly of Alaska Tlingit.)
“I thought it was just paddling, then I went out. It was really fun,” Scott said. “It was really tiring, but it was really fun.”
By the time he completed the third leg of the Journey, he was changed. He stayed up until midnight playing slahal, a bone game. Someone found his misplaced jacket, and he danced to get it back. Someone found his misplaced phone too, and a friend sang to get it back for him. In appreciation, Scott carved a miniature cedar paddle for his friend. The paddle turned out so well, he carved a small cedar spoon.
The Canoe Journey sparked a renewed interest in his culture. “I learned you have to give respect to everything – the canoe, the drum,” he said. Another thing he learned: “You don’t call the canoe the ‘B’ word,” he said. (Call it a boat, and you have to take a swim.)
The Canoe Journey is also a major tourism draw in the host nations and surrounding communities. Elwha Klallam, the second to last stop on the Peninsula before Makah, served 4,000 people – canoe pullers, families and visitors – at breakfast and dinner for two days. It was quite a feat of coordination.
Sonny Francis, Canoe Journey coordinator at Elwha Klallam, said he did “three months’ work in 60 hours.” How did he prepare? “Through hard work and planning.”
Francis said the Canoe Journey helps non-Native people and Native people get to know each other and builds understanding between cultures. During protocol, audience members are often invited to participate in dances; during a Greenland Inuit presentation at Elwha Klallam, audience members were invited to the floor for a seal dance and traditional games.
“Non-Native people have their traditional dances. We’re not doing anything different than them,” Francis said. “The Canoe Journey is a great big family reunion.”
The Canoe Journey also gives host nations a spotlight in which to show their economic muscle. On July 10, Jamestown S’Klallam dedicated and blessed its new 23,000-square-foot health clinic. From July 16 – 18, Jamestown S’Klallam hosted a salmon dinner, storytelling, carving demonstrations, and tours of its carving shed, where poles for S’Klallam-owned buildings and 7 Cedars Casino are created. Visitors also met Dale Faulstich, master carver and co-author of “Totem Poles of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.”
On July 17, Lower Elwha Klallam dedicated and blessed its new Elwha Klallam Heritage Center, in the heart of Port Angeles. There are longhouse design elements in its architecture, and the centerpiece in the lobby is a copper sculpture of salmon swimming upstream, by Clark Mundy.
The heritage center has a children’s room, classrooms, computer lab, gift shop with window-front café-style seating, and a large kitchen for culinary arts training. The building is decorated with artwork by Elwha Klallam artists Roger Fernandes and Linda Wiechman. The designer was Gentry Architecture Collaborative of Port Angeles.
Heritage center manager Warren Stevens said the center brought the community together from the start. Contractors took ownership of the project and donated a lot of time, or reduced their profits so they could invest more in materials and workmanship.
Stevens said the heritage center will be a tourism draw and an economic contributor to the community. It also makes a statement about who the Elwha Klallam people are.
“It’s saying, ‘We are as one, we’re not separate,’ that tribal people and non-tribal people can get along, can work together and sustain together for the betterment of everybody.”
That theme – of different cultures working together and sustaining together – carried over into Neah Bay, where Makah hosted about 100 canoe families and several thousand visitors through July 24. Local bed and breakfasts, campgrounds and hotels were packed.
Besides enjoying cultural events and presentations, visitors toured the Makah Cultural and Research Center, explored beaches, hiked the Cape Flattery Trail and soaked in the breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and Tatoosh Island.
Makah will again host on Aug. 27 – 29 for the 87th annual Makah Days Celebration. There will be traditional dancing and singing as well as canoe races and slahal games. Makah Days admission is free and open to the public.
Richard Walker is a correspondent reporting from San Juan Island, Wash. Contact him at rmwalker@rockisland.com.
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