It was a beautiful day for a canoe journey. Standing on the long pier at Suquamish, you could see them as they rounded the point at Jefferson Beach, paddles glistening, pulling in a rhythmic motion. They began as tiny canoes against the skyline of Seattle and Mount Rainier and grew larger and louder as they approached, the captain of each canoe calling out directions.
Throughout the day on Monday, July 25, seventy tribal canoes landed on the shores of Suquamish for a two day layover as they make their way to Olympia, the final stop of this year’s annual Tribal Canoe Journey called the Paddle To Nisqually. For six days while there, the convened tribes and visiting nations will celebrate the cultural and maritime history of the Northwest’s first people.
In Kitsap County we have two tribal nations who both annually host the Canoe Journey and
depending on the final destination, serve as back to back hosting tribes. It’s about 26
nautical miles between this year’s landing at Suquamish and the previous day’s resting stop
hosted by the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe. In prior years the tired pullers would land on
the Suquamish shore and, with a handful of volunteers, hoist their heavy, wooden dugout
canoes on their shoulders to walk up the ramp to the lawn in front of the House of
Awakened Culture. This year, a group of Navy men and women stationed in Kitsap County
volunteered to carry the canoes.
It was an inspiring sight to watch each canoe stop before landing and ask permission to
come ashore (often in their tribal language) from Suquamish Tribal Chairman Leonard
Forsman. Yellow-shirted Navy volunteers then waded into the water, lifted each canoe and
carried it uphill passing by the flagpole with the waving flags of the United States and the
Suquamish Tribe to the applause of watching spectators. The symbolism of that cooperative
effort was heartwarming – the original first peoples of Kitsap County sharing their culture
and tradition, getting assistance from young Navy men and women, most just passing
through on a tour of duty, to the applause of a crowd of Native and non-Native spectators,
all under the flags of two sovereign nations.
Over the next two days there were evening salmon and clambake meals served by
Suquamish tribal members and community volunteers followed by tribal singing, drumming
and dancing by the visiting tribes in the Suquamish House of Awakened Culture- a tradition
that allows the visiting tribes to thank the host tribe for its hospitality.
Viewing the canoes all grouped on the grounds above the shore was akin to visiting a tribal
maritime museum. Each one is a work of art and symbolism; a dug-out canoe made of trees
that are found on each tribe’s land. The style varies by tribe though all have to be seaworthy
enough to withstand the open water canoeing of the Salish Sea also known as Puget Sound.
Some are painted, some bear tribal flags and wreathes of cedar branches. Some canoes have
made the journey more than once and others are first-timers. The new Makah canoe was
carved by students at Neah Bay High School.
Two common local misperceptions: the Canoe Journey ceremonies aren’t the same as
Suquamish Days which occur a month later and they are open to the public. You can watch
and photograph the canoe arrival and departures, attend the evening dancing and
drumming ceremonies and even volunteer to serve food and clean up. The tribes ask that
you’re respectful and that you don’t bring or consume alcohol or drugs as the Canoe Journey
is a tradition that promotes health and healing for the pullers and the tribes.
