The first North Olympic Peninsula tribe will join the 2016 Canoe Journey, known as the Paddle to Nisqually, on Friday.
By the time they reach the end of their journey at the Port of Olympia on July 30, the Quinault will have been joined by a flotilla of canoes representing the Hoh tribe, the Quileute Nation, the Makah tribe, the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe and the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.
The theme of this year’s Canoe Journey is “Don’t Forget the Water.”
During the usually annual journey, revolving tribes take turns hosting the destination.
This year, the Nisqually tribe near Olympia will host dozens of tribes from Oregon to British Columbia, which are expected to take part in the trip using traditional carved and painted canoes, for a celebration in August.
Participating tribes leave their own shores in canoes and visit other tribal lands along the way. Before they land, they ask the host tribe or first nation for permission to come ashore.
Landing ceremonies include welcoming songs and are followed by potlatches with meals, storytelling and the further exchange of songs, dances and gifts.
This is the first journey since 2014. No tribe stepped forward to host the event in 2015.
Hoh tribe
The date the Hoh tribe will join the odyssey currently is being decided, said Maria Lopez, Hoh tribal chairwoman.
“One of our elders will be taking one of our canoes out and skippering it, and we always involve our youth or anybody else willing to participate,” she said.
The Quileute, which will enter four canoes into the journey this year, are scheduled to join the journey July 17 and the Makah at Neah Bay on July 18. An overnight stay is scheduled at Pillar Point on July 19.
Two-day stop in PA
A two-day stop is planned in Port Angeles on July 20-21, when paddlers from Canada are expected to join the journey.
The incoming canoes will be welcomed July 20 with a traditional welcoming ceremony by the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe at Hollywood Beach, said Sonja Elofson, the tribe’s Canoe Family coordinator.
The ceremony is free and open to the public, although the exact time has yet to be determined, she said.
“It will depend on the tides and the weather that day,” Elofson said.
“There are going to be some [canoes] coming across from Victoria, and some are going to be coming out from the west side from the Neah Bay area.”
About 26 canoes are expected to make landfall at Hollywood Beach, Elofson said.
The journey will continue to the Jamestown beach July 22, where pullers will be welcomed by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.
The next stop will be July 23 in Port Townsend for a joint welcoming ceremony by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe and the Port Gamble S’Klallam tribe, said Vickie L. Carroll, Jamestown S’Klallam tribal Canoe Journey coordinator.
The Port Gamble S’Klallam will join the journey July 24, and it will continue on to Olympia.
Nisqually tribal members will meet the Canoe Journey pullers at Swantown Marina in Olympia on July 30.
Ceremonies and celebrations are planned through Aug. 6.
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Features Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
