PORT ANGELES — Dozens of ornate, wood-carved tribal canoes will land at Hollywood Beach in Port Angeles today for a Tribal Canoe Journey stopover hosted by the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
Because of the nature of the paddle journey based on weather and tidal conditions, the canoes’ colorful arrival could happen from late morning to early afternoon — or later.
Many are coming from the west, while others are crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Vancouver Island.
The canoe journey is growing as participants head east and then north to the 2011 Tribal Canoe Journey gathering near La Conner in Skagit County.
After spending tonight in Port Angeles, the canoes will next land at Jamestown Beach on Sequim Bay around midmorning Monday, then to Fort Worden State Park beach in Port Townsend at around 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The canoe landings and many of the cultural events that follow are open to the public.
But a new state park Discover Pass or $10 daily parking fee is necessary for a member of the general public to drive into Fort Worden to watch the canoes land.
Tribal arts and crafts are sold by some of the journey’s participants at stopovers to help offset some of the costs of the journey.
The tradition-rich annual Tribal Canoe Journey celebrates Native American culture with muscle-pumping “pulling” at day and singing, dancing and storytelling at night.
Hosting communities feed hungry pullers — the preferred term for paddlers — and their ground crews and provide camping space, showers and laundry when available.
The growing fleet of canoes makes daily stopovers at the various tribes and Canadian First Nations on a point-to-point pilgrimage to the final destination in this year’s Canoe Journey: the Swinomish tribal reservation about 55 miles north of Seattle on July 25.
There, the gathered pullers and other Native American participants will camp and share their songs, drumming and dancing until July 31.
This year’s journey got under way last week at points around Western Washington and British Columbia.
“The journey links Indian youth to their culture, their elders and to a life free from drugs and alcohol,” according to a Canoe Journey website.
“It promotes healing, culture, civil society, community and leadership while developing organizational capacity.”
Close to a dozen canoes and their pullers from the Olympic Peninsula’s Quinault, Hoh, Quileute and Makah tribes — in addition to a group from Oregon’s Grand Ronde tribe — are making their way from Pillar Point to Port Angeles today.
Also landing at Hollywood Beach will be about a dozen canoes from Vancouver Island First Nations.
As canoes arrive, pullers will follow traditional protocol and ask the Lower Elwha for permission to land.
The spectacle is accompanied by singing and drums from the host tribe.
After the landing today, pullers and their support teams will be shuttled to the Lower Elwha Tribal Center for an evening of singing and dancing.
Lower Elwha Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles said an intertribal feast is planned for 6 p.m.
Charles on Friday said she didn’t know what time the canoes will land.
They traditionally land in the late morning through the early afternoon.
“Of course, they will probably be spread out,” Charles said. “They’re not going to be arriving at once.”
Safety of the pullers is the first concern, Charles said.
A minus-tide will occur in Port Angeles at 10:40 a.m. today.
High tide happens at 6 p.m., giving the eastbound pullers considerable advantage in the late morning and early afternoon.
Charles said preparations were going well Friday.
“Everything is coming together,” she said. “It’s always exciting this time of year.”
Charles described a “unity” with the canoe journey that brings friends and family together. Kids and elders alike “always get excited about it,” she said.
On Monday, pullers from the assembled tribes will shove off from Hollywood Beach and head east to Jamestown Beach, where they will be greeted by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.
Parking is limited at Jamestown Beach, which is northeast of Sequim.
After a one-night stopover at Jamestown, the pullers will set their sights on Fort Worden State Park, where they will be welcomed by the three Klallam bands from Lower Elwha, Jamestown and Port Gamble.
Arrivals at Fort Worden are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., stop organizer Pamela Roberts said.
Steve Shively, Fort Worden State Park conference, programs and services manager, said the general public must pay a fee — $10 daily fee or $30 annual pass for all state parks — to drive onto Fort Worden to watch the canoes land.
Pullers and their support teams are exempt from the Discover Pass requirement because they booked their visits in advance of the legislation passing, Shively said.
The state Legislature enacted the Discover Pass vehicle requirement for state parks and other state lands to help offset budget cuts.
The fees went into effect July 1.
“It’s a cumbersome way of doing it, but it’s the new reality of what the Legislature has left us with,” Shively said.
From Port Townsend, the pullers will make their way to Port Gamble, then cross Puget Sound to work their way north to Swinomish.
_________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
