JAMESTOWN — Songs, drums and the scent of alder cook fires greeted Native American canoe paddlers from Puget Sound on Sunday.
A crowd of about 300 people watched them pull out of a choppy Strait of Juan de Fuca onto the beach.
The nearly 30 watercraft had journeyed from reservations as far south as Nisqually.
Members of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe greeted the voyagers as, one by one, they asked consent to land.
“We ask permission to come ashore, share some of our stories and songs with you,” said the skipper of a canoe from the Strait of Georgia.
His pullers, as the paddlers are called, raised their paddles in a gesture of peace.
“We come in peace. We are tired and hungry,” said Dennis Jones, skipper of the Port Gamble S’Klallam canoe, who sported a shirt that said on its back, “Shut up and paddle.”
“We are so happy to be here with you now,” said a female skipper. “We have paddled a long way without relief.”
“We are happy to welcome you to Jamestown Beach,” answered Kurt Grinnell of the Jamestown S’Klallam. “Come ashore to eat and rest with friends from near and far. We know you have paddled a long way.”
Members of the welcoming party applauded each skipper’s speech, beat their drums, and lifted up their hands with arms bent at the elbows, a traditional salute.
