Photo by dawn Quinn
ARRIVAL. Paddlers made their way to the shore of Owen Beach at Point Defiance Park to see crowds of individuals standing together in anticipation of arrival.
On July 9, hundreds of individuals from a multitude of local tribes gathered together at the shore of Owen Beach at Point Defiance Park along with the Puyallup Canoe Family to celebrate traditions, culture and a way of life.
Canoe journeys as they exist now began back in 1989 as part of the Washington State Centennial celebration, with local tribes traveling from Suquamish to Seattle in what was then known as the Paddle To Seattle.
Tribes have developed canoe families and have been participating in annual tribal canoe journeys ever since. Prior to that, there had been no known organized, traditional-style intertribal canoe journeys since the 1800s.
The Puyallup Tribe’s Canoe Family came to be 15 years ago, and has seen tremendous growth and impact among the tribal community and families.
A total of 10 canoes stopped at Owen Beach for this significant cultural and spiritual event that concluded in Neah Bay at the Makah Reservation July 19. Canoes landing at Owen Beach July 9 represented Canada’s Squamish Nation, Squaxin Island, (the starting point of this canoe journey), Nisqually, two Puyallup canoes, Chehalis, Cowlitz, and two Muckleshoot canoes that were joined by two canoes of Seminoles from Florida as part of a cultural exchange.
“(Canoe journey) is drug and alcohol-free, our (Puyallup) canoe family is tobacco-free, and we look to being violence free by talking circles,” said captain of the Puyallup Canoe Family and Puyallup Tribe Cultural Coordinator, Connie McCloud.
“Today we talked about our teenagers and being violence-free, use our circles to problem solve, be a community, people are healing and we’re doing drug and alcohol prevention. We are by example showing our children a healthy way of life that was a life our ancestors lived.”
“Our days start at 4 a.m., and they were often out of there at 5:30 a.m. People are out early, and now the canoes are about to come in an hour and there will be dinner tonight and protocol, singing and dancing and sharing,” McCloud said before the canoes arrived July 9. “Everybody’s contributing one way or another.”
Willie Koch is from Longview and the chairman of the Cowlitz canoe committee, and he has been a part of the event since 2002.
“I love the water, the connection with our ancestors, the intertribal relationships and the good food,” Koch laughed. “We have approximately 40 people from the Cowlitz community here and by the time we get to Neah Bay we should have 80.”
Puyallup Tribal member Denise Reed was teaching Chad Walden how to weave baskets while waiting for the canoes to come in and seeking shade under a tarp. Both were at Owen Beach in support of the Puyallup Canoe Family.
“I’ve been coming for about eight years now,” Reed said. “It’s a spiritual gathering where everyone gets together and once you start to paddle, you give all your problems to the water.”
“I come here with Grandview (Puyallup Tribe’s Early Learning Center) to watch the kids from there and enjoy it,” Walden said. “I’ve been coming for about three years and went to Chief Leschi (School). Being around everyone and enjoying everyone’s company is great.”
More than anything, the canoe journey is about tradition and prevention, McCloud said. “We really are talking about community, how we are continuing to learn about our traditions and culture. We are very large and have a prevention program, but that’s where it comes from – from our traditions and our values. They hold it up, it comes from elders, and it can be an example. Elders here now are looking at their own healing. It’s important that our children see and hear and feel the traditions of our people, because that is prevention.”
As canoes came up to the shore one by one, asking permission to come ashore as consistent with traditional protocol, crowds gathered in closer to watch and take part in protocol to celebrate the journeys of the canoes and tribes.
As a tribe close in proximity to the starting point Squaxin Island, Puyallup was one of the last tribes to present to the group of tribes from all over Puget Sound, the state, Canada and points beyond.
“This is my 16th year at Canoe Journey and now I’m a captain overseeing the whole effort,” McCloud said. “We’re having a good time, having fun and things are working well.”
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