PORT ANGELES — Painted with dramatic images of ravens, eagles and whales, between 10 and 15 canoes will arrive today at Hollywood Beach as part of the 2009 Tribal Canoe Journey.
The public is invited to watch colorful ceremonies as the canoes land on the beach between City Pier and the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Port Angeles at about noon.
The arrival time is subject to winds and tides.
Paddlers will be greeted in the Klallam language by some of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s youth and will receive water and sports drinks to avoid dehydration after paddling their canoes in today’s expected hot weather.
“We have a lot of water and Gatorade and fruit,” said Frances Charles, Lower Elwha Klallam tribal chairwoman.
After being welcomed ashore, the pullers will be taken to the Lower Elwha reservation to rest and celebrate.
Ten canoes will be from the Quinault, Hoh, Quileute and Makah tribes traveling along the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Pillar Point.
Five canoes coming from across the Strait on Vancouver Island had yet to confirm Tuesday afternoon whether they will be landing at Hollywood Beach by noon.
PT, Jamestown next
The Klallam reservation, just west of Port Angeles, will be the canoe pullers’ resting place for two days of song and dance before they continue their journey to Jamestown Beach north of Sequim, landing at about 2 p.m. Friday, and Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend, landing at about 2 p.m. Saturday.
For the first time, Brinnon is hosting a stop on the journey.
A total of 21 canoes from the Skokomish, Nisqually, Chehalis and Squaxin Island tribes will land between noon and 1 p.m. Thursday at the beach next to Hjelvik’s Store, just north of the town of Brinnon.
Most of the canoes are cedar dugouts like those that once plied the Northwest’s waters carrying trade goods or used in fishing and whaling.
Port Madison
The final destination for the 100-plus canoes from tribes in Western Washington and British Columbia is the Suquamish tribe’s Port Madison Reservation in northeast Kitsap County.
The grave of the legendary Chief Seattle is on the reservation within the town of Suquamish.
The canoe paddlers are scheduled to arrive there Monday, and celebrations will last for five days.
The annual Tribal Canoe Journey, an alcohol-free and drug-free event, is a combination of powwow and potlatch.
It combines cultural pride, food, dancing and music — as well as the paddlers’ athletic prowess.
Three Lower Elwha canoes will join today’s group for the rest of the journey on Friday, and two Jamestown S’Klallam canoes will join the fleet Saturday.
This year’s journey marks the 20th since the first canoe journey, with the destination as Seattle.
The canoe trip has been held annually since 1989.
Next year’s journey will be hosted by the Makah at Neah Bay.
800 to 1,000 people
As with every stop on the journey, the canoes’ skippers follow tradition handed down through the generations by asking permission to come ashore.
“No one could enter someone else’s land or water without asking permission to do that,” explained Marlin Holden of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.
Charles said that between 800 and 1,000 people — the paddlers, their families and support crews — will camp on the reservation or stay in local motels.
“The majority stay on the reservation . . . there’s a crew that comes ahead of them and sets up,” Charles said.
“It’s like when you are out camping.
“They have all of that preparation and a person designated to do that.”
Charles said the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe will provide dinner for the pullers tonight and breakfast Thursday.
A canoe may hold between 10 and 22 pullers, she said.
Although the tribe has more than 100 people preparing and serving food for the two-day stop, additional volunteers are needed, Charles said.
To volunteer, phone the Lower Elwha tribal center at 360-452-8471.
Sequim, Fort Worden
After the canoes arrive at Jamestown Beach on Friday, the pullers will be hosted by the Jamestown S’Klallam at Sequim High School.
The next stop, at Fort Worden State Park, will be hosted by the Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam and Port Gamble S’Klallam tribes.
Holden, a skipper on one of the Jamestown S’Klallam canoes, said the canoes will come ashore on the beach south of the Fort Worden pier, near the campground and Port Townsend Marine Science Center.
“We’re excited about Port Townsend,” he said, because it was once part of the Klallam territory, and tribal members will once again be welcoming canoes to its shores.
“We’re looking forward to seeing our folks down there and witnessing that.”
Holden said he is a great-great grandson of Klallam Chief Chetzemoka, who is buried in Port Townsend.
He said the pullers and the other travelers will camp at Fort Worden State Park before leaving for Port Gamble on Sunday.
The canoes in Brinnon will be greeted by a Skokomish tribal member, a surprise guest and Port of Port Townsend Commissioner Herb Beck.
About 500 people, including about 200 pullers plus their support crew, are expected to stay the night camped out at Dosewallips State Park.
Two members of a tribe from New Zealand are joining the Skokomish and the other tribes on their trip.
A group of paddlers from Hawaii is also expected at Port Madison. That group began in Neah Bay on Monday.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
