Save the date for Sunday, July 29th because we may be witness to one of the most amazing paddling experiences in Steh-Chass (Budd Inlet) in our lifetime. On that day, more than 100 tribal canoes will make their way from the Squaxin Island reservation to the Port of Olympia, with a soft landing along the way at Priest Point Park.
The destination for the Canoe Journey changes every year and this year belongs to the southern tip of the Salish Sea. Canoes and their paddlers will represent First Peoples from all over the Northwest, including Washington, Alaska, and British Columbia. Also participating are indigenous peoples from Japan, Hawaii, Mexico, and New Zealand. Each year's Journey includes a theme, and this year's theme is "Teachings of Our Ancestors." Squaxin Island Museum executive director Charlene Krise said “It is our ancestors that teach us that we must care for our elders, each other, our children and the earth because each is a part of our past, present and future.”
From the Squaxin Island Tribe's website: "Cedar canoes are the traditional mode of transportation for coastal people of the Pacific Northwest.The resurgence of canoe journeys began in 1989 during the Suquamish Tribe’s “Paddle to Seattle.” Then, in 1993, the Heiltsuk Nation in Bella Bella, BC challenged all canoe nations to travel by canoe to their village participate in the Qutawas Festival. 28 canoes answered that challenge. Today more than a 100 canoes from as many as 90 US Tribes, Canadian First Nations and New Zealand and an estimated 12,000 people participate in the annual Tribal Canoe Journeys. We pull together; we sing and dance; and we share our culture – everything in honor of our past, present and future generations."
For those of you who are familiar with the Port of Olympia and Swantown marina, it will appear very different on July 29th. In addition to staging more than 75 canoes just off of North Point, on the upper parking lot and surrounding area, there will be seating for several thousand people, a media tent, and the rowers' public dock surrounded by canoes as a take-out. You can see for yourself on the Canoe Journey Aerial Map.
It will be an impressive sight to see and experience...and I'm looking forward to seeing it from the water.
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