PORT ANGELES — More than 200 drumming, dancing, singing people celebrated the life of Vanna Francis at a memorial gathering Saturday.
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Center, its floor swept with cedar boughs, rang with the tribe’s welcome song to start the ceremony.
Soon after, the Lower Elwha Praise and Worship Team sang one of Miss Francis’ favorite tunes, “Oh Happy Day.”
The morning turned solemn for a while as members of the Lower Elwha and other canoe tribes — led by young women holding candles, portraits of Miss Francis and a framed collage of her photographs — walked around the center’s gym wielding miniature canoe paddles.
Four of the six black-and-white photos in the collage were of Miss Francis. One was of a bald eagle; the other, a rose.
