A feature story on the Journey and a photo of the canoe Kloomachin were among the top 10 “most emailed” stories on the Times’ site Monday. The photo was taken as a Port Gamble S’Klallam crew welcomed canoes to Port Gamble Bay on July 20. The photographer stuck around to capture a poignant slideshow from the hosting.

“The first time we landed, the feeling was just unexplainable,” Port Gamble S’Klallam skipper Charlie Trevathan told the Times writer. “I cannot put it into words. Ever since then, we’ve gone back every year.”

The hard work began Saturday morning before paddles ever touched water.

More than 30 canoes were spread out on a lawn in front of the House of Awakened Culture in Suquamish, and each needed to be carried down the steep ramp to the water. Even with eight people lining each side of the canoe, hefting a cedar canoe is still hard labor. Its weight is grinding and the shifting load threatens to drive you to your knees. And though heavy, dugouts are fragile. A hard drop can shatter a hull.

Imagine hoisting a five gallon bucket of water onto your shoulder, hobbling down a long boat ramp, across 100 feet of barnacle-studded rocks and into knee deep water, and you have an idea of what it’s like to launch a dugout.

At 6 a.m., in the orange glow of the sunrise, canoe families brought their vessels to the shore, asked parting permission from Suquamish Chair Leonard Forsman, and paddled north out of Agate Pass one by one. Our route Saturday would take us across Puget Sound, from the Kitsap Peninsula, past the south tip of Whidbey Island to Tulalip, near Marysville. We would cross two ferry lanes and a lot of wide open water.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam’s canoe Kloomachin left Suquamish with a crew of 10 pullers, and about eight more piled onto a support boat. Canoes scattered over several miles worked their way up the coastline past Point Jefferson. The day was calm but the water was choppy. Hundreds of fishing boats on the Sound created a confusion of wakes and skippers had to be vigilant to not be caught off guard. From the support boat we watched one towering wake lift the bow of Kloomachin out of the water. The crew pulled deep in unison to keep the canoe level.

We changed crews in the middle of the sound and pushed on to Edmonds. The sun was high and the day was growing hot as we eased ashore at Marina Beach Park for a break.

Pulling north again, we joined a string of canoes scooting across the ferry lane as the Puyallup loaded at the dock. For the remainder of the journey we battled an opposing tide and a steady north wind.  Even with regular crew changes it was a slow go. It took two and a half hours to pull even with the south tip of Whidbey Island. With a long haul still ahead we eased Kloomachin into shallow water, searching for a place to land for lunch. A couple standing on a log-strewn private beach waved us ashore and we gratefully accepted their invitation.

On shore, over a bag lunch, we met our benefactress, Sonja Main, whose family has owned the shorefront property for 80 years. The railroad track ran just above the driftwood line and we noticed old timbers protruding from the beach sand. The family patriarch, Arvid Franzen had been a shipbreaker, Main explained. More than 26 ships were towed to this beach, stripped and burned. The iron was piled and carried away by freight trains. We were eating lunch in the midst of a maritime graveyard.

Past Mukilteo the expanse of Possession Sound spread before us. The middle of a long pull seems the hardest, when your muscles are aching but your destination is still far in the distance. Working against the tide, skipper Laura Price tried to keep spirits up and paddles from lagging. Pullers sang traditional songs in Klallam, pushing words out through dry throats. The young pullers played “I spy,” but it was always a short game. “I spy something blue.” “The sky.” “I spy something green.” “The trees.” “I spy something blue.” ” The water.” There was little else to spy. Sky, sea, endless shoreline were our world.

As we neared Everett, nearly all the canoes around us were being towed by support boats. Towing isn’t uncommon on the Journey. Some smaller families don’t have enough pullers for reserve crews. Sometimes rough weather forces canoes to leash up. On Saturday afternoon the constant breeze and dragging tide slowed progress to a crawl. At length, Price and skipper Dennis Jones decided to tow. It was 4:30 p.m., and at our pace we were still several hours from Tulalip.

Jones and about six pullers stayed in the canoe. We clipped a long line to Kloomachin’s stern, tied it to the support boat and motored on. A few in the crew were disappointed to not paddle the full distance. But the Journey isn’t a race, Price reminded them, it’s about honoring tradition and getting there safely.

In Tulalip Bay we unleashed Kloomachin and paddled to the landing. The invitingly low bank was lined with spectators and a small crowd from Port Gamble S’Klallam cheered as we reached the beach. There was so much water sloshing in the bottom of the canoe it had to be bailed before a line of volunteers could shoulder it.

Just beyond the shoreline, the ground crew had set up our tents in a baseball field and there would be cold drinks waiting in coolers. The family would have a day to rest before the final pull to Swinomish on Monday. It had been 11 hours since we left Suquamish, a long, tiring day that made landing all the sweeter.

Nizhoni Price carries her mother’s skipper paddle to the camp in Tulalip.

This is my last dispatch from the 2011 Canoe Journey. I’m back in the office and at work on the August edition of the Kingston Community News. Herald editor Richard Walker will pick up coverage at the landing in Swinomish. Once again I’m deeply grateful to the Port Gamble S’Klallam Canoe family for inviting me to share their journey. — Tad Sooter

Route: Point Julia (Port Gamble S’Klallam) to Suquamish
Distance: 24 nautical miles (aprox.)
Time: 9 hours (including breaks)

Port Gamble Bay was calm and gray Thursday morning as canoes began pulling away from Point Julia.

More than 20 canoes landed on the beach over the previous two days. At 6 a.m. they still lined the driftwood above the sand shoulder to shoulder. Many pullers and skippers arrived at the beach that morning yawning from a long night of protocol ceremonies at the House of Knowledge.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam family circled on the beach and held hands for an opening prayer and skipper Laura Price picked a 10-person crew from among about 20 pullers to fill the dugout Kloomachin. Reserves were chosen to load in a support boat to change in on the water. Another group of relief pullers would drive to Point No Point to meet the canoe at mid-morning.

Thursday would be an odd journey in ways. We would spend about nine hours transiting a canoe nearly 30 statute miles from Point Julia to Suquamish around the north end of the Kitsap Peninsula. By land these towns are separated by 10 miles, a 15-minute car ride. But paddling the shoreline on a quiet day gives you a very different view of Kitsap.
View Paddle to Swinomish in a larger map

The canoes left the beach one at a time. It was low tide, and families helped each other carry the heavier dugouts the 100 feet or so to the water line. Canoe crews paddled strongly out of the bay, past the pilings of the old Port Gamble mill and north into Hood Canal. They’d be fighting a gentle flood tide to Foulweather Bluff.

Port Gamble S’Klallam’s Kloomachin departs Port Gamble Bay.

The water was still calm  as we subbed in a few pullers off the support boat off Twin Spits in Hansville. But as we pulled toward Foulweather Bluff, Price recognized a few tribal dive boats motoring back toward Little Boston. A cell phone call confirmed that rough weather near Kingston had forced divers to be pulled for the morning. A strong wind was blowing from the south and it was likely we’d have to pull the canoes out in Eglon. It was hard to imagine, gazing across the glassy water off Hansville. Even a standup paddleboarder was a hundred yards offshore, watching canoes pass.

The ‘B’ word

A canoe is not a boat. Yes, they are both vessels that float on the water, but the first rule a participant or observer of the Canoe Journey learns is to not call a canoe the “B word.” Punishment for using that four-letter word is usually a dip in the ocean, a ritual I’ve seen longtime pullers and unknowing tourists subjected to alike. A rush of stinging-cold water is an excellent memory aid.

The clean, deep water off Point No Point is especially cold, and that’s where Andre Ward decided to atone for a few “B word” transgressions when the canoes pulled onto the beach for a break Thursday. As the crew munched peanut butter sandwiches, Ward stripped off his shirt and ran headfirst into the sea – twice.

He came back up laughing.

“Rookie mistake,” he said. He was in good company. A few minutes later, skipper Charlie Trevathan dropped the “B word” for the first time in 10 years of journeys. A few days before, skipper Dennis Jones had his first slip up during practice and took a plunge off Point Julia.

Point No Point to Jefferson Head

We pulled past Point No Point through a gauntlet of wading anglers and idling fishing boats. The fishermen kept casting, even as loaded tribal canoes skimmed within a line’s length of their rods. Salmon season is serious business.

It was clear as we pointed south toward Eglon the weather would not be a problem. The sound was flat calm for as far as we could see, save for lumbering freighter wakes and chop from fishing boats. The wind had apparently calmed, though sweeping rain clouds were moving fast over Whidbey Island.

From here on we watched an endless march of green shoreline pass to our right. Every so often a young puller would ask, “How far is it.” The answer from the skipper was invariably the same: “Around the next point.” We would creep around that point to find another headland in waiting, hazy in the distance.

There were distractions. Talk, laughter and occasional splashing helped pass the time. Seals bobbed by and little cutthroat splashed near the canoe.

“What would you do if one landed in the boat?” Jones’ son Robert asked before catching himself.

We pulled on past Eglon and rounded Apple Tree Point to bring Kingston into view. A ferry was loading at the terminal and Jones ordered a “power pull” across the mouth of the cove. Paddlers dug deep and fast for 60 strokes, speeding the Kloomachin out of the ferry lane.

Backs tightened, fingers wore raw and small talk dwindled as Jefferson Beach and Jefferson Head passed at a crawl. At length, the welcome sight of a smoking fire at Suquamish’s Doe-Keg-Wats estuary came into view. Canoes landed on the shallow beach en masse and were greeted by Suquamish Elder Ed Carriere. Port-a-potties and warm hot dogs were welcome luxuries. A few pullers were already stretched out asleep as we straggled ashore.

Doe-Keg-Wats to Suquamish

After a crew and skipper change, the final pull to Suquamish passed quickly. There were no more points to round. Suquamish was in our sights at the mouth of Agate Pass.

There were, however, plenty of boat wakes, and navigating even a small wake can be a hairy experience in the round-bottomed Kloomachin.

“Dig deep, don’t stop pulling,” Price would remind the crew as the rolling canoe elicited squeals from young pullers. “Think of your paddle as your handle and pull harder.”

Canoes bobbed in rows along the beach at Suquamish as we arrived. Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman waded between them passing a pink microphone between skippers like a relay baton. A skipper or representative from each canoe gave a brief speech asking for permission to land and were greeted ashore by a line of Suquamish drummers and singers. Then each canoe was lifted on to the shoulders of a dozen or more volunteers and carried up the steep ramp to a lawn at the House of Awakened Culture.

Above the shore, a crowd of spectators had gathered. Elders watched the arrival from a row of lawn chairs. The smell of grilling salmon drifted down to the arriving pullers.

We unloaded our gear with rubbery arms and helped hoist the Kloomachin up to the field of resting canoes. Families would rest here for Thursday and Friday night, and be ready to paddle across Puget Sound to Tulalip on Saturday.

Some Port Gamble S’Klallam pullers stayed for dinner and protocol. Others headed home to showers and soft beds, grateful for a 15-minute drive.

Reporter Tad Sooter is traveling on the Journey for a second year with the Port Gamble S’Klallam Canoe Family.

Suquamish continues its hosting today with protocol in the House of Awakened Culture beginning at 3 p.m. and dinner at 6:15 p.m. Canoes depart Saturday morning for Tulalip, followed by Cama Beach on Sunday and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, the final destination in the 2011 Canoe Journey, on Monday.

Swinomish expects to host at least 15,000 people over the seven-day cultural celebration.

The Suquamish Olalla Neighbors sent this message regarding Friday’s dinner:

“We now have an accurate count from tonight in Suquamish. Side dishes and desserts for over 2,000 will be needed at (Friday’s) community potluck at the canoe journey stop in
Suquamish at the House of Awakened Culture. Extra bread and salad would be especially helpful. Sorry this is such short notice. We are grateful for your help with these last minute numbers.”

Protocol — cultural sharing — began Thursday with Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian from Alaska, Kingcome Inlet, Warm Springs, Grand Ronde, Coquille, and Chinook. According to a posted list, protocol continues today with Cowlitz, Chehalis, Chumash, Ahousaht, Beecher Bay, Makah, Hoh, Quileute, Quinault, Dandalia, Nooksack, West Shore, Samish, Swinomish, Tulalip, Oliver Family, Lower Elwha, Jamestown S’Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Squaxin, Nisqually, Puyallup, 253, Muckleshoot Sacred Water, and Suquamish.

Canoes are welcomed to the shores of Suquamish, Thursday.

According to canoe family organizer Laura Price,  canoes from Quinalt and the Hoh River on the Washington coast have already arrived, along with a canoe from Ahousat on the west side of Vancouver Island.

Another seven canoes departed Port Townsend shortly after noon today, and are expected to arrive at Point Julia this evening. Port Gamble S’Klallam expects to host about 22 total canoes on July 20. Volunteers interested in helping prepare meals for the visiting families can contact Price at lives@pgst.nsn.us.

Here’s the 2011 Canoe Journey/Paddle to Swinomish route map.

Aurelia Washington, Paddle to Swinomish coordinator, said Saturday that Swinomish expects 130 canoes will arrive on its shores July 25, and that Swinomish expects to host 10,000 to 15,000 guests. There’s a need for 450 volunteers. Visit www.paddletoswinomish.com for more information.

As you can see by the map, First Nations canoes from the west side of Vancouver Island, the Pacific Coast of Washington state, and the Olympic Peninsula will be in Port Gamble S’Klallam July 20; those canoes, as well as South Sound canoes, will be in Suquamish July 21-22, then proceed to Tulalip, Cama Beach and then Swinomish.

Karen Platt and Ted George of Suquamish Olalla Neighbors wrote this about the need for volunteers July 21 and 22 for the Canoe Journey hosting and community potluck in Suquamish.

Thursday, July 21:

– Two volunteers from 1-3 p.m. to pass out food and water bottles at Jefferson Head as the canoes come in and rest before the formal landing at Suquamish later in the afternoon.

– One to two volunteers to oversee the Boy Scouts who will be on hand to work on environmental jobs from 2-8 p.m. in downtown Suquamish.

– Six to seven volunteers to serve food from 6-7:30 p.m. in downtown Suquamish.

Friday, July 22:

– 10 volunteers from 7 a.m. to noon, at various sites.

– Six to 10 volunteers from noon to 6 p.m. at various sites.

– Six to 10 volunteers from 6 to 8 p.m. to help serve at the Suquamish Olalla Neighbors potluck dinner and clean up afterward, in downtown Suquamish.

– 10 volunteers from 6 p.m. to midnight to work at various sites.

Call Platt at (206) 310-6096 or email olalla@soneighbors.org to sign up.

The training is open to all canoe families. Lunch will be provided.

According to Tina Jackson, Suquamish Tribe cultural activities coordinator, “We’ll cover hypothermia, flotation devices (go over the different types of PFDs) through lunch, then go down to the dock and go over strategies for what happens if the canoe tips over — getting out of the water as quickly as possible, getting the canoe tied to a support boat, getting out of the water into the support boat, towing the canoe, and self-rescuing the canoe.

“Should be really good, and mandatory for the Suquamish canoes.”

A Samish canoe family member said, “If you have never done an open water rescue, it’s great to get training in up-righting a swamped canoe and bailing it out and re-entering it safely.”

For more information, contact Jackson at (360) 394-8455 or tjackson@suquamish.nsn.us.

Port Gamble S’Klallam will host traveling canoe families July 20. “We expect to see up to 1,000 guests,” according to The S’Klallam View monthly newsletter. “We will greet and welcome canoes at Point Julia as they land. Time varies but can be estimated from noon to 5 p.m. We will feed our guests a traditional clambake at the beach. It is what our visitors look forward to each year. We also will be serving a meal at the Tribal Kitchen that evening and will open our Longhouse for presentations and protocol.”

Canoes will leave July 21 in the morning with the tide.

If you would like to help at Port Gamble S’Klallam, call Marie Hebert, 297-6241.

The Suquamish Tribe will host traveling canoe families July 21-22, at the House of Awakened Culture, 7235 NE Parkway, Suquamish.

About 100 canoes from Northwest Coast indigenous nations will land at the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, near La Conner, July 25-31.

The ensuing conversation, involving 80 Northwest Coast leaders and canoe skippers, was a reminder of what the journey has become: a cultural renaissance with economic, environmental, political and social implications.

Read more in this story by Richard Walker.

Look for the Port Gamble S’Klallam canoe family in the 2010 Canoe Journey in this German feature about the Salish Sea, filmed last year. With other Canoe Journey scenes. Starting at 18:55.

This year’s Tribal Journeys event will last from July 25-31 but canoe families raise money throughout the year to help cover their expenses. You can follow canoe family news on the club’s page on Facebook.

In case your not a McDonald’s regular, this is where the Kingston restaurant resides.

Tana Stobs pullers practice a Traditional Dance from New Zealand during the 2010 canoe journey. (Tad Sooter photo)

A Suquamish group will share canoe traditions this week, half a world away.

The Tana Stobs canoe family departed for New Zealand on Sunday to take part in Waitangi Day, a traiditional Maori celebration. Events include the Waitangi Waka Pageant, a gathering of ceremonial waka (Maori war canoes).

The Suquamish group will join guests from the Grand Ronde tribes of Oregon and rowing clubs from the Netherlands. Travelling Tana Stobs members include Bennie Armstrong, Nic’cola Armstrong, Dale Ahvakana, Hector Quiroz, Jalen Ives, Faith Williams, Kate Ahvakana and Angelina Ives-Sosa.

This is the third year Suquamish has been involved in a cultural exchange with Maori members. Maori guests have joined the canoe family on the last two Tribal Journeys and Tana Stobs members have visited New Zealand.

This year’s Waitangi Waka Pageant take place in the Bay of Islands at the northern tip of New Zealand.

From left, Port Gamble S'Klallam canoe skipper Laura Price and Port Gamble S'Klallam Councilwoman Francine Swift participate in a discussion about scheduling for the 2011 Canoe Journey, Saturday at Samish Indian Nation's Fidalgo Bay Resort in Anacortes. Richard Walker photo

Participants in the Canoe Journey, the annual cultural event in which more than 100 indigenous canoes travel from their territories to a host nation, with stops at indigenous territories along the way, are scheduled to stop at Port Gamble S’Klallam July 20.

Port Gamble S’Klallam canoe skipper Laura Price and Port Gamble S’Klallam Councilwoman Francine Swift were among 80 Northwest Coast Native leaders who participated in a Canoe Journey planning meeting Saturday at the Samish Indian Nation’s Fidalgo Bay Resort in Anacortes.

Port Gamble S’Klallam could possibly host canoe pullers and support groups from Quinault, Hoh, Quileute, Makah, Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, and Skokomish. From Port Gamble S’Klallam, pullers will continue to Suquamish, July 21-22; Tulalip, July 23; Coupeville, July 24; and Swinomish, the 2011 host, July 25-31.

All told, Swinomish is expected to host more than 100 canoes from the Northwest Coast for seven days of cultural celebration and sharing. People from other canoe cultures as well — among them Alaska, Hawai’i, Japan and Maori — have participated in recent journeys.

The website for this year’s Canoe Journey — called the Paddle to Swinomish — will be up Wednesday. Visit www.paddletoswinomish.com.

I’m back at my desk now, and my paddle blisters have all healed, but this blog will live on in electronic limbo as an imperfect chronicle of the Paddle to Makah.

During three frenetic weeks of Tribal Jouneys coverage I produced about 6,000 words of copy —spread over three newspaper features and the daily blog – and snapped about 1,250 photos (with a few hundred keepers). All this content was scattered across several web pages. This is my attempt to put it in order:

TABLE CONTENTS

Tribal Journeys photos on Flickr

North Kitsap Herald articles:

A family that pulls together (07/09/10)

Family traditions in the making (07/16/10)

A canoe journey by land (07/23/10)

Blog posts:

Welcome to the journey

Smile, you’re on TV… in Germany

Dress rehearsal

Canoe culture

Canoe sightings

More canoe sightings

Gear

Port Gamble landing

The route

Day one – Port Gamble to Port Townsend

Day two – A wild morning on the water

Day two – A calmer evening

Day three – Jamestown to Elwha

Day four – Elwha camp

Day five – Elwha to Sekiu

Landing at Makah

Tad Sooter photos

Eighty six Tribal Journeys canoes landed in Neah Bay on Monday afternoon, greeted by singers, dancers and a crowd of visitors.

After days of uncertain weather, the strait was peaceful in the morning and Port Gamble S’Klallam canoes launched at Sekiu, near Clallam Bay, for the final leg of the journey. Paddlers pulled easily through rolling swells along a coastline punctuated by pillars of rock.

Canoes gathered at a beach on the east side of Neah Bay at noon to prepare for the ceremonial landing. Port Gamble S’klallam Canoe Family members donned matching red shirts for the landing and skipper Laura Price loaded Noo Kayet with 19 people (the canoe usually holds 11).

We departed again at about 3 p.m. and joined a single file parade across the harbor. Each canoe made a sweeping pass of the beach to salute the crowd, dancers and Makah leaders with raised paddles.

All 86 canoes rafted together about 100 yards offshore to await the landing protocol. The scene in the midst of the flotilla was raucus and colorful. Friends greeted friends in neighboring canoes and stood to take pictures. Pullers tried to execute “the wave” with their paddles as though they were spectators in a stadium.

A solemn hush fell over the harbor as the deep voice of a Makah singer voice out over a loudspeaker. As the song faded, rockets shot into the air, each leaving a puff of white smoke and an echoing report.

The canoes advanced to the beach in groups based on region to ask permission to land. The northern tribes, including Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia were the first to land. We were in the midst of the group of Puget Sound tribes, which made up the bulk of the canoes. Tribes from the Washington coast landed last.

Volunteers waded out into chest deep water to greet our canoe as we pulled close. They didn’t seem to shiver and politely asked each skipper for permission before laying hands on a canoe. “It’s as warm as an ice cube,” one volunteer called cheerfully to our canoe.

We rafted together again just offshore. Makah dignitaries stood above us on a cedar platform, framed against the green hillsides. A speaker from each canoe introduced their family and asked to land. When the final speaker had finished, permission to land was given, and we gratefully slid Noo Kayet ashore after four hours on the breezy harbor. Behind us the coastal canoes pulled forward together with pullers chanting in unison.

For some Tribal Journeys veterans, landing protocol is a formality to be endured – one last step between them and a feast of baked salmon after a long day of pulling. For me, a Journeys first timer, seeing the landing unfold from the water was breathtaking.

There are scenes from that Monday I will not forget. Hearing the Port Gamble S’Klallam Canoe Family announced as we paraded past the beach with paddles raised and knowing how hard the people around me had worked to get there. Being in the midst of 86 jostling canoes carrying more than 1,000 people, who. Hearing those same people fall silent as a Makah song rolled out across the harbor and the pounding of paddle handles against wooden hulls after the canoes were welcomed. These are images I will carry with me.

The canoes are beached, but for some this is only the midway point of the journey. Protocol ceremonies will continue in Neah Bay until Saturday. Each tribe will have a chance to share their songs and dances, and express their gratitude to the Makah for hosting. Port Gamble is scheduled to present on Thursday, but it’s common for the schedule to shift during the week.

I’m home now, resting after a hot shower and a long nap, with the journey still swimming in my mind. Patrick Ives, a Tana Stobs family member, told me he has taken a lesson from every canoe journey, but it takes a few days away to discover what you have learned.

I’m content to let the journey sink in and know that I learned far more than I set out to.

We awoke at 3 a.m. to find the wind blowing even harder than it had the evening before. After a brief meeting the Port Gamble S’Klallam skippers decided not to risk the strait.

About 12 canoes did leave Port Angeles that morning but many were forced back to the beach by the wind and tides. A few pressed ahead to Pillar Point.

A crew of S’Klallam youth paddled the Noo Kayet to a marina to be trailered and canoe was driven west to Sekiu, a town near Clallam Bay. Meanwhile the canoe family camp was moved to Hobuck Beach on Neah Bay, where it will remain for the next week.

July 17, Elwha

My “day of rest” began at 6 a.m. with our support boat captain rousing me for a morning fishing trip. The early start from Port Angeles gave us more time to not catch fish. During six hours of aimless trolling on the strait we watched several fishermen haul in large Chinook salmon. But they were not us.

We gave up at 11 a.m. and went back to our camp on the Elwha reservation.

Protocol ceremonies began at the tribal center at 1 p.m. I watched presentations from Alaska Inuit and native Greenlanders, who are guests on the journey. The Greenlanders performed a lively, jig-like dance inspired by European whalers. The Inuit demonstrated several of their games, including leg wrestling, and challenged audience members on the gym floor.

At camp, kids were playing baseball and hiking to the Elwha River for swims. A native New Zealander, hosted by the Suqauamish Tribe, drilled the Tana Stobs family on a fierce, paddle-brandishing dance on the lawn.

After a dinner of Indian tacos (fry bread, chili and taco fixings), the skippers gathered pullers to discuss plans for the next leg of the journey. Crews will paddle to Pillar Point on Sunday, but because the winds pick up on the strait in the late morning and early afternoon, canoes will need to launch at 5 a.m.

“We’re racing the wind,” skipper Dennis Jones said.

Tomorrow’s wake up call will come at 3 a.m. Protocol will last late into the night, but most of the camp is already in bed.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/day-4-elwha-camp/112/feed/ 1 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/day-jamestown-elwha/104/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/day-jamestown-elwha/104/#comments Sat, 17 Jul 2010 06:07:32 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=104

July 16, Jamestown to Elwha

Pullers assembled at 5:30 a.m. and the sky was encouragingly clear to the northwest.

But at an early morning skippers meeting nearly all the canoe families decided not to make the pull up the coast to Elwha. The forecast was calling for high swells. Fishermen from Jamestown were reporting conditions were getting worse on the strait. With the memory of Thursday morning’s close calls still fresh, the skippers decided to play it safe and trailer the canoes.

The water off the beach was glassy and smooth, but Jamestown is protected by a long sand spit that makes it impossible to guage the conditions in the strait.

“It’s deceiving,” skipper Laura Price said after the decision to trailer was made. “It’s so calm and perfect you want to be out there.”

A few canoes did pull west for Elwha. The Port Gamble S’Klallam Canoe Family assembled its young pullers to paddle Noo Kayet a short distance to a marina for haul out.

The Tana Stobs canoe family held a cleansing ceremony on the beach around their canoe to clear away any negative energy left from Thursday, when the canoe was nearly lost. The women of the family circled the canoe with cedar boughs while the men held its sides in support.

We moved camp to the Lower Elwha Klallam reservation in the late morning. The reservation sits at the mouth of the Elwha River, just west of Port Angeles. We camped in the waterfront yard of a tribal friend, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca spread before us and the north face of the Olympic Mountains towering behind.

Canoes began landing in the early afternoon at Hollywood Beach in downtown Port Angeles. Those that were trailered from Jamestown were launched at a nearby marina and pulled to the beach to request permission to land from the Elwha. The canoes that paddled from Jamestown also trickled in. As it turned out, conditions in the strait had been fair.

Elwha is the largest camp so far. Canoes from north and south Puget Sound and Hood Canal were joined by families from Vancouver Island. Some of the Canadian canoes are unbelievably large. We saw one capable of carrying 20 pullers.

Canoe families will have plenty of time to rest in Elwha. We will stay here all of Saturday and depart Sunday morning for Pillar Point.

The rest day will be a chance to regroup, do laundry and relax. Not having to break down tents in the predawn cold will be the greatest luxury of all.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/day-jamestown-elwha/104/feed/ 1 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/day-calmer-evening/98/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/day-calmer-evening/98/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:24:37 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=98

The sun broke through the fog, the water flattened, and there was a sense of relief in the Jamestown camp this afternoon.

Three canoes capsized rounding Point Wilson in rough water this morning. One was the Tana Stobs canoe, which was lost while being towed empty. It was recovered hours later.

Another was from a Canadian tribe and I haven’t heard the details of the capsizing.

The third was an Elwha canoe, known as the “Pink Paddle Canoe.” The canoe took water over the bow, swamped and eventually turned over. The crew made it safely into a support boat and no one was injured. However, the crew lost gear and paddles and the canoe was badly damaged. The pullers will continue the Journey in a different canoe.

A Port Gamble S’Klallam support boat found one of the Elwha paddles and a carved seat support floating in the strait shortly after the capsizing.

The paddle was returned to the crew and the Elwha performed an emotional cleansing ceremony at the protocol this evening. During the ceremony, a second Elwha paddle was passed up from the crowd. It, too, had been found on the water today.

Each evening the canoe family gathers in a circle to review the day and discuss plans. Tonight’s meeting was a serious one.

“The worst case scenario happened this morning,” Port Gamble S’Klallam skipper Dennis Jones said. “We’re just lucky we didn’t lose anyone from this canoe journey family.”

There’s no promise the conditions tomorrow morning will be any better than today. Only adults will pull tomorrow and pullers are resting for what could be a long day on the water. Support boats won’t be able to draw up to the canoes if conditions are rough, which means fresh crews won’t be able to board.

If conditions aren’t safe, the canoes will be towed to Elwha. All the canoe family can do now is get sleep and hope for good luck in the morning.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/day-calmer-evening/98/feed/ 5 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/wild-day-water/92/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/wild-day-water/92/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:42:36 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=92

Tribal Journeys canoes left Fort Worden State Park at 7 a.m. Thursday, pulling through fog and choppy water. Fifteen minutes later they were all coming back.

Shortly after rounding Point Wilson, word spread over the radio that a canoe had flipped over in high waves. The U.S. Coast Guard was on scene and ordered all Journeys canoes back to the beach.

The canoe turned out to be from Elwha. Its crew was pulled into a support boat and evaluated for hypothermia symptoms but apparently everyone was OK.

The canoes slogged back to the beach and most were loaded onto trailers to be pulled to Jamestown, the next stop on the Journey. A few canoe families opted to tow their canoes behind support boats and rounded the point again.

Among those being towed on the water was a fiberglass canoe from the Suquamish and S’Klallam Tana Stobs family. The canoe began baning against its tow boat in the rough water and was eventually cut loose for fear of damaging both vessels. The canoe was recovered in the early afternoon but it’s still unclear how much damage it sustained.

In the end, the morning was a reminder of how unpredictable the straits can be. Morning predictions had called for light to moderate wind but canoes encountered swells cresting to 10 feet.

“It was the worst I’d seen it,” Port Gamble S’Klallam skipper Dennis Jones said.

The canoe families are now camped in Jamestown and are preparing for a pull to Elwha tomorrow.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/wild-day-water/92/feed/ 1 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/day-port-gamble-port-townsend/88/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/day-port-gamble-port-townsend/88/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:17:38 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=88

Tad Sooter photos

July 14 – Port Gamble to Port Townsend
25 nautical miles

Seven in the morning feels even earlier when you’re standing in knee deep in saltwater. So members of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Canoe Family were relieved when the call came to push off the beach and begin paddling.

Forty Port Gamble S’Klallam pullers assembled at the beach that morning and rotated between three canoes – Noo Kayet, Kloomachin and the Trevathan family canoe.

We were one of the last groups to leave the beach and canoes were already scattered to the horizon as we pulled north up Hood Canal. I started my day in Noo Kayet and the morning chill was soon dispelled by steady paddling under a hot sun.

We had our first man overboard just an hour into the trip. The Kloomachin had pulled alongside one of Port Gamble S’Klallam’s two support vessels to bring on new pullers. As it pushed away from the boat, Kloomachin tilted severely (as it often does) and a young puller fell backwards into the water. The puller swam to the support boat, climbed back into Kloomachin and kept paddling.

At 10:30 a.m. we stopped Oak Bay park, near Indian Island, for an early lunch. From there pulled up the canoes entered the narrow channel between Indian Island and the mainland, which serves as a southern entrance to Port Townsend. The canoes shared the channel with a steady line of powerboats and plowed through wake after wake.

The water was calm in the bay and the canoes made steady time past Fort Flagler and across the Port Townsend ferry lanes. After shooting photos from a support boat for a few hours, I joined the crew of Noo Kayet in the bay.

The sun was unrelenting and young pullers in the canoe were tired and wrestless. We passed downtown Port Townsend and turned northwest toward Fort Worden State Park. Ahead we could see the white strip of beach and barely make out canoes unloading. The closeness of our goal made the last half hour of the trip interminable and pullers were having trouble keeping time.

When we finally arrived at the beach we were greeted by drummers and dancers. The crew carried Noo Kayet up to the line of canoes at the driftwood line with the help of bystanders.

It was only a little past 1 p.m., but already a tent city had blossomed on the hillside above the beach. We found our ground crew pitching tents and cooking an early dinner (or was that a second lunch?) of spaghetti.

There were hundreds of tents packed tight on the lawn and a melee of activity. Shuttle vans were making trips to town, children were playing soccer and a few drum circles were starting up.

A hamburger and hotdog dinner was served and after a canoe family meeting I had enough time to wander the camp and explore bunkers in the park before crawling into my tent for the night.

Drumming and singing circles continued until 11 p.m. then the camp finally began to quiet. Our wakeup call would come at 5 a.m.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/day-port-gamble-port-townsend/88/feed/ 0 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/route/73/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/route/73/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:00:20 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=73

Map by the Muckleshoot Tribe. See a full map here.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Canoe Family departed Port Gamble Bay for Port Townsend early Wednesday morning. By the time this posts, we should be pulling out of Hood Canal. This is how the route will break down over the next six days.

July 14: Port Gamble to Port Townsend – The first day will take us out of Hood Canal, across Admirality Inlet and up to Fort Worden.

July 15: Port Townsend to Jamestown – On the second day we’ll pull past Protection Island and Sequim Bay for a rendezvous with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

July 16: Jamestown to Elwha – We’ll round Dungeness Spit and push west past Port Angeles to the Lower Elwha S’Klallam reservation. Several routes converge in Elwha, so it should be a large gathering of canaoes. We’ll rest there on July 17.

July 18: Elwha to Pillar Point – From Elwha the canoes continue along the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Pillar Point. It’s a convenient midway spot between Elwha and Neah Bay, but no one seems too sure what camping opportunities will be available there. We’ll soon find out.

July 19: Pillar Point to Neah Bay – The final leg of the journey will take us from Pillar Point to the Makah reservation at Neah Bay on Monday. The canoes will assemble at the beach for the landing protocol, the ceremony that allows pullers to come ashore. A week of ceremony and celebration will follow.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/route/73/feed/ 1 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/gamble-landing/77/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/gamble-landing/77/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 03:11:04 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=77

Canoes are carried ashore Tuesday at Point Julia in Port Gamble Bay. (Brad Camp photo)

More than 30 canoes pulled into Port Gamble Bay this afternoon for an overnight stay. The lines of canoes on the beach at Point Julia were an impressive sight.





(Tad Sooter photos)

Impromptu campgrounds popped up at the point and above at the tribal center.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe hosted dinner for a crowd of hungry pullers. Protocol ceremonies will last late into the night.

I’ll be joining the Canoe Family at 6 a.m. tomorrow for an early morning departure.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/gamble-landing/77/feed/ 1 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/gear/65/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/gear/65/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:33:28 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=65

A massive amount of preparation goes into the canoe journey, as I wrote in the Herald last week. Launching the journey takes months of practice, fundraising and organization.

On a personal level, each participant is responsible for providing a kit of gear in a plastic tote, which will be packed from campsite to campsite by the ground crew. For illustrative purposes, I have posted a photo of the kit I packed this afternoon (not procrastinating, merely maximizing time efficiency).

Each tote, in theory, includes a tent, sleeping bag, extra clothes, rain gear, extra shoes, towels, a flashlight and hygiene items. Pullers also bring a life jacket (thank you Doug), sunscreen, sunglasses and a brimmed hat, along with a paddle (more to come on that).



If this doesn’t seem like a lot of gear, multiply it 120. That’s how many Port Gamble S’Klallam members are participating in the Journey this year, though most will not be pulling. My estimate in the Herald story was woefully low.

As a reporter, I’ll be bringing my own baggage to the Journey (only some of it emotional). I’ll have a camera, lenses, batteries, a netbook for blogging and filing stories with, and all the associated cords.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/gear/65/feed/ 2 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/canoe-sightings-2/58/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/canoe-sightings-2/58/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:22:20 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=58

Reader Julia Miller snapped this photo Tuesday morning of a canoe rounding President Point south of Kingston. Several canoes will travel from Suquamish to Point Julia today. Canoes will gather in Port Gamble Bay beginning at about 3 p.m.

Photographer Brad Camp and I will be shooting the landing. Feel free to send me your own canoe photos, I’ll be happy to post them here.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/canoe-sightings-2/58/feed/ 0 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/canoe-sightings/43/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/canoe-sightings/43/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:29:05 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=43

Canoes land in Tulalip on Sunday. Photos by Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam won’t depart the friendly confines of Hood Canal until Wednesday but some tribal canoes have been under way since July 3.

Canoes will follow a half dozen different routes to Makah. Some are working their way down the east shore of Puget Sound. Others are following the east and west coasts of Vancouver Island. Still others are winding their way up from the south Sound or braving the open coastal waters. The canoe families camp along the way, often hosted by other tribes. It’s a chance for families to reconnect and tribes to show their generosity.

Colleague Kirk Boxleitner of the Marysville Globe was kind enough to share the photos (above) of canoes landing in Tulalip on Sunday. Some of these canoe families had traveled from as far as Sechelt, north of Vancouver, B.C. These same canoes will paddle into Suquamish today, joining a handful of south Sound canoes that arrived in Agate Pass on Sunday.

About 20 canoes are expected to land in Port Gamble on Tuesday afternoon. S’Klallam pullers will spend hours on the water, guiding in the visiting canoes as they land. A clam and cockle bake will follow. The public is invited to join the landing. Shuttles will be available to carry visitors to the Point Julia beach. Canoes can also be seen on the west side of the bay from downtown Port Gamble.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/canoe-sightings/43/feed/ 1 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/canoe-culture/23/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/canoe-culture/23/#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:19:59 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=23

When the S’Klallams talk about paddling the same marine highways their ancestors traveled, they aren’t talking about a few generations. Evidence suggests canoes have been used in the Northwest for thousands of years.

Canoes were king in a land where dense forests and strong rivers made inland travel challenging. They were a lifeline for fishing and whaling. They allowed tribes to travel hundreds of miles to trade and visit, and carried bands of warriors to battle.

Canoe culture faded as white settlements spread in the Northwest and tribes were confined to progressively smaller territories. Considering how vital canoes were to Northwest tribes it’s no surprise they are now at the center of their cultural renewal.

When the Paddle to Seattle was organized in 1989 there were few traditional canoes in use and few tribal carvers with the knowledge to build them.

Twenty one years later, the Port Gamble S’Klallam have two canoes:

Kloomachin

Built for the Paddle to Seattle, the Kloomachin is a traditional dugout design, carved from a single cedar trunk. The Kloomachin was designed by Duane Pasco of Poulsbo.

Its narrow hull and rounded bottom make the Kloomachin fast but fickle. It’s capable of rousing speed but requires an experienced crew. Many new pullers, including myself, had their first practice in the Kloomachin on Saturday. Paddling the Kloomachin is a constant balancing act. Pullers must lean their bodies like bobbleheads to keep the canoe level while constantly paddling.

We were pulling out of sync as we left the beach on the first trip Saturday and the Kloomachin responded by leaning heavily to one side then the other.

“I thought we were going over a couple of times,” skipper Laura Price said after the Kloomachin returned safely to shore.

Once the pullers found their stride and began paddling in unison the Kloomachin leveled and sped across the water.

Though challenging for new pullers, the dugout has led the family on some impressive journeys, including the 500-mile paddle to Bella Bella in 1993.

Noo Kayet

If the Kloomachin was a Ferrari, the Noo-Kayet (pictured above, and below) would be a Cadillac. The Noo-Kayet was built in 2007 and, unlike the Kloomachin, was constructed with cedar strips and fiberglass. Its flat bottom gives it remarkable stability and it’s capable of carrying a host of pullers through rough water.

Noo Kayet the canoe used for practices and will do the bulk of the work on the Journey.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/canoe-culture/23/feed/ 1 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/dress-rehearsal/14/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/dress-rehearsal/14/#comments Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:19:27 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=14

The Canoe Family held perhaps its final practice on Wednesday afternoon in 80 degree weather.

The session was chaotic but lighthearted. Nearly 30 Canoe Family members turned out to pull, the largest crowd in months. A TV crew from Germany was also on hand to film (see the post below), which added to the confusion. Anthony Adams skippered Noo-Kayet, the Port Gamble S’Klallam’s broad-bottomed, cedar-strip canoe, on three trips through Port Gamble Bay as the film crew shot from a support boat.

I joined the third trip and so did a shirtless German cameraman, who installed himself in the front of the canoe. He conducted a few interviews at point-blank range with pullers in the front, then slithered his way to the back and wedged his burly torso between myself and the neighboring puller so he could talk with Adams.

The film crew couldn’t help but be distraction, but they were good natured and the Canoe Family put on a good show.

After three short trips in the bay, Laura Price took over as skipper and guided a large crew of pullers north toward Coon Bay as the sun slid toward the Olympics. The crew pulled hard despite the lingering heat. After months of practice, the mouth of Hood Canal and the strait beyond appeared enticingly close in the slanting sunlight.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/dress-rehearsal/14/feed/ 1 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/smile-tv-germany/10/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/smile-tv-germany/10/#comments Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:02:52 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=10

A month ago German journalist Michael McGlinn typed three words into a Google search bar.

Seattle. Fishing. Weird.

“I got ‘geoduck’ and this place,” McGlinn said Wednesday, standing on the beach at Point Julia on Port Gamble Bay.
Spurred by zany search engine results, McGlinn and a crew from Hamburg-based mareTV are spending time learning the customs of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe. A feature on the tribe will air sometime this fall on the German station, which showcases maritime communities around the world.

When McGlinn began internet research he was hoping for a story about native fishing. The S’Klallam tribe seemed a safe bet, but McGlinn’s crew soon learned the tribe isn’t fishing much this time of year. Instead, the three-man crew will spend its time crabbing and filming preparations for Tribal Journeys.

“They’ve been great,” McGlinn said of his hosts.

This won’t be the S’Klallam Tribes television debut. Food Network’s Extreme Cuisine host Jeff Corwin stopped in Port Gamble last year to sample native fare.

]]> http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/smile-tv-germany/10/feed/ 1 http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/journey/3/ http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/journey/3/#comments Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:08:45 +0000 Tad Sooter http://blogs.northkitsapherald.com/journey/?p=3

The first story I covered for the North Kitsap Herald in August of last year was the landing of Tribal Journeys canoes in Suquamish.

I stood with thousands of other onlookers onshore as the canoes massed below and sweated in sun through the hours-long landing ceremony.

When the canoes finally unloaded I snatched interviews with the pullers as they trickled up through the crowd. They were weary but jubilant. Sunburned but inspired. I realized quickly their stilted quotes wouldn’t tell the story. To fully experience the Journey, you must experience it with a paddle in your hand.

This year I will have that opportunity.

Two months ago the Port Gamble S’Klallam Canoe Family invited me to join them on the Journey. I was surprised and honored. A few non-tribal guests are invited on the Journey each year, and it’s a rare opportunity for a person and certainly a reporter. Since the invitation in May I have joined the family on canoe practices in Port Gamble Bay and Hood Canal. It has given me a taste of both the hard work and camaraderie that launch the Journey each year.

In coming days I will write about the preparation for Journey, the practices, the planning and paddle carving. After the canoes depart Port Gamble on July 14 I will be posting dispatches as frequently as time and wireless signals allow. Look for posts here, photos on Flickr, updates on Facebook and accompanying North Kitsap Herald stories in print and online.

When we arrive in Neah Bay on July 19, I hope to have a new understanding of canoe culture and the families traveling beside us. And I hope to share that experience as best I can.

First, I must thank the members of the S’Klallam Canoe Family for inviting me into their journey.

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