PORT TOWNSEND — Two canoes had been welcomed onto a Fort Worden State Park beach in Port Townsend by early Saturday afternoon as they stopped on their way to the destination of the 2017 Canoe Journey near the Campbell River on Vancouver Island.
Paddlers from the Chehalis and Nisqually tribes were to be feted at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds before they head for Jamestown Beach today.
Neighboring tribes welcome canoes ashore at Port Townsend during canoe journeys since it has no tribe in residence.
They were welcomed ashore by Jamestown S’Klallam tribal members, led by Ron Allen, chairman and CEO of the tribe; and Lower Elwha Klallam tribal members, led by Chairwoman Frances Charles. Charles had said that the Port Gamble S’Klallam also would join the Port Townsend welcome.
Canoes also were welcomed Saturday to Neah Bay, where Quinault and Quileute paddlers joined Makah participants.
During the usually annual journey, which began in 1989, tribes take turns hosting the destination. This year’s hosts are the We Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum nations. This year’s theme is “Standing Together.”
Potlatches are held throughout the journey, as canoes stop on neighboring tribal shores after a day on the water.
Today, the Jamestown S’Klallam will welcome visitors to their shores at Jamestown Beach.
On Monday, the Lower Elwha Klallam will welcome travelers to Hollywood Beach. Participants will arrive from both east and west with some from Port Townsend and others from Pillar Point near Clallam Bay.
Canoe arrival times will be dictated by weather and currents. Travelers in each canoe will ask the host tribe or first nation for permission to come ashore.
The welcome is extended with drums and song to a potlatch with meals, storytelling and the further exchange of songs, dances and gifts.
Welcoming ceremonies are open to the public.
A dinner is planned at 6 p.m. Monday at the Lower Elwha Tribal Center.
From Port Angeles, paddlers will head across the Strait of Juan de Fuca for Esquimalt on Vancouver Island. Tribes from across Washington and British Columbia are scheduled to meet at Nanoose Bay before traveling together to this year’s destination near the Campbell River on the east coast of northern Vancouver Island, where their hosts will provide a five-day potlatch that will begin Aug. 5.
Participating from Washington state are canoes from the Quinault, Quileute, Makah, Lower Elwha Klallam and Jamestown S’Klallam tribes, as well as the Port Gamble S’Klallam, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, Puyallup and Nisqually tribes.
This year, the Hoh Tribe isn’t participating, but tribal members watched the Quinault paddle past Tuesday, said Maria Lopez, tribal chairwoman.
Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S’Kllalam Tribe, greets and gives permission to land and refresh themselves to the canoe from the Nisqually Tribe on Saturday at Fort Worden State Park. The Nisqually pullers had just completed a 6.5-hour journey from their tribal lands. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
