Canoe: Potlatching on at Hunishu Point - The Paddle to Quinault continues in its fifth of six days today, as tribal nation after tribal nation shares song and wisdom passed from generation-to-generation with a gathering of approximately 10,000 people gathered at the newly named Hunishu Point just south of Taholah on the Quinault Reservation.

Canoe: Tribal Canoes Land – Paddle To Quinault 2013 - On the beach near Point Grenville, within the Quinault Indian Nation, one can feel in harmony with nature. With an expansive forest nearby, sea stack rocks and a bountiful sandy beach, the area is a perfect representation of the Washington State coast.

Canoe: Paddle to Quinault ‘a success’ - Quinault Indian Nation officials are calling the Paddle to Quinault an overwhelming success, with six days of continuous feasting, singing, dancing and story telling wrapping up Tuesday. “It truly was a magical event,” said Guy Capoeman, the event’s organizer. “It did more than we thought it would for improving relations with other tribes. It was a true revival of tradition.”

Canoe: This Is Not a Tourist Event - "Seattle—I always say it's the epicenter of the Indian movement right now," says Caleb Dunlap. "I can't remember where I heard that. Maybe it was just inside of me. But it said, 'Go to Seattle if you want to be part of change in what we call Indian Country.'" It's Friday, August 2, 2013, and Dunlap is sitting on the bumper of a red pickup truck parked on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He's Ojibwe, of the Minnesota Chippewa, but today he's in Quinault country, in the town of Taholah in Grays County, 150 miles west of Seattle.

Canoe: Pullers Brave Rough Waters to Honor Warriors in Paddle to Quinault - Emmett Oliver watched from his daughter’s truck as his 14-year-old grandson Owen arrived Aug. 1 at Point Grenville in the Chinook Nation’s canoe as part of the 2013 Canoe Journey/Paddle to Quinault, Washington. It was a perfect storm of irony and symbolism. Twenty-four years ago, Oliver, a noted Quinault educator and retired Coast Guard officer, proposed the Paddle to Seattle as part of Washington state’s centennial celebration.

Canoe: A Challenging Tribal Canoe Journey Strengthens Culture - The tribal canoe journey is an annual celebration that recognizes the cultural importance of canoe travel to indigenous people. This year’s journey was the Paddle to Quinault, with a final destination at the shores of the Quinault Indian Reservation on the Olympic Peninsula. Mason was one of thousands gathered to welcome 89 canoes there last week.

Canoe: Prayers and medicine on the Paddle to Quinault - Most people watching the Canoe Journey understand the annual event based on what they see: The arrival and departure of colorful Northwest Native canoes, the indigenous songs of welcome on the shore, the clambakes and traditional dinners, the evening ceremonies. But there’s a backstory: The people who make or prepare gifts.

Canoe: Tribal canoe tips off Port Townsend; one taken to hospital - The tribal canoes emerged from a dense fog into the mud of a low tide at Jamestown Beach, Monday's scheduled stop on this summer's "Paddle to Quinault" Canoe Journey. Pullers were exhausted by the morning's trip from Port Townsend — and they were sobered by an incident in which nine members of one canoe were flipped into the waters north of Port Townsend and rescued by the Coast Guard.

Canoe: Perilous paddle: Another mishap on tribal canoe journey - Between 30 and 40 canoes from across the Pacific Northwest and Canada made landfall Tuesday morning at Hollywood Beach as children and adults from the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe welcomed travelers in the Paddle to Quinault journey. Canoes arrived out of thick fog from the north — from British Columbia across the Strait of Juan de Fuca — and from the east, traveling along the coast from Jamestown Beach to Hollywood Beach.

Canoe: 'Paddle to Quinault' canoes land on North Olympic Peninsula beginning today - Expertly carved canoes will slice through the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca as the 2013 Paddle to Quinault brings the people-powered craft to the shores of the North Olympic Peninsula's native tribes this week.

Canoe: Paddle journey canoes greeted at Fort Worden - The first canoe to arrive at Fort Worden State Park on Sunday for the Port Townsend stop on the Paddle to Quinault came from an unexpected direction, navigating through fog from the north instead of Port Gamble to the south. “When it's this foggy, we start singing so the pullers can follow the sound and know where to land,” said Terri McQuillen, a Makah member from Port Townsend who was on hand for the ceremonial greeting of pullers on their way to the Aug. 1-6 celebration at Taholah.

Canoe Journey: Stops at Suquamish, Port Gamble S’Klallam July 19 and 20 - The Canoe Journey — an annual gathering of Northwest Native canoe cultures — visits Suquamish July 19 and Port Gamble S’Klallam July 20. This year’s visits will be more intimate than previous years. Canadian and North Sound canoes are traveling to Vancouver Island en route to the final destination of the Quinault Nation on Washington’s Pacific Coast.

Canoe Journey: Canoe Journey visits Point Julia July 20 - The Canoe Journey — the annual gathering of Northwest Native canoe cultures — stops in Suquamish July 19 and Port Gamble S’Klallam July 20. This year’s visits will be more intimate than previous years. Canadian and North Sound canoes are traveling to Vancouver Island en route to the final destination of the Quinault Nation on Washington’s Pacific Coast. Suquamish and Port Gamble S’Klallam are hosting canoes only from South Sound; those canoes will proceed along the Olympic Peninsula en route to Quinault. More than 100 canoes are expected to visit Quinault Aug. 1-6.

Canoe Journey: Local couple paddles, teaches about boating to preserve native heritage - Since the first multi-tribal canoe journey to Seattle in 1989, Pacific Northwest Native American tribes have revived a major component of their heritage – the ancient art of carving and paddling dugout canoes – by paddling en masse to the land of a hosting tribe each summer. Blaine residents Ron Snyder and Cathy Taggett have participated in the revival of native canoe culture in various roles since 2001.

Canoe: Marvin Oliver Designs Print Commemorating Canoe Journey Milestone - Noted artist Marvin Oliver, Quinault/Isleta Pueblo, has designed a print, “100 Canoes,” to commemorate the participation of 100 canoes in the 2012 Canoe Journey/Paddle to Squaxin. “We counted 104 canoes,” Paddle to Squaxin Coordinator Debra Meisner reported in an email. The number is a Canoe Journey record. Marylin Bard, the artist’s sister, said it was her father Emmett Oliver’s dream to see 100 canoes participate in the Journey in his lifetime. The elder Oliver, who is now 98, coordinated the first Journey, the Paddle to Seattle, in 1989 as part of Washington’s Centennial Celebration.

Canoe: More than 100 tribes gather at Squaxin Island tribal center - The sounds of tribal drummers and singers flowed from a 30,000-square-foot tent Tuesday as the Paddle to Squaxin 2012 Canoe Journey unfolded at the Squaxin Island tribal center. The host tribe, aided by a small army of volunteers, is playing host this week to a gathering of more than 100 coastal tribes, the largest known gathering of cultures ever in the South Sound region. Many of the tribal members made a colorful entrance to lower Budd Inlet by canoe Sunday. Now a weeklong celebration of tribal culture is under way with a potlatch of singing, dancing, drumming and gift-giving by some 50 of the tribes starting at 10 a.m. each day and lasting into the night through Sunday.

Canoe: The journey of healing and hope continues - Ray Krise raised his hands in thanks as the eagle circled overhead, as if greeting the canoes coming around the bend from Budd Inlet into East Bay July 29. On a path overlooking the bay, Squaxin women and girls dressed in woven cedar and wool clothing raised their hands in welcome as men drummed and sang on the bluff above. Crowds cheered. The beauty of what was taking place on the water — the arrival of canoes in the 2012 Canoe Journey/Paddle to Squaxin — was sharply contrasted by the reality of what was in the water. East Bay is sick. It’s the former site of a wood mill and although the beach has been capped with a layer of mud, signs advise visitors to shower after contact with sand or water from the area. The Squaxin people have a treaty right to harvest fish and shellfish here. “It’s damaged so much we can’t grow anything here anymore,” Squaxin elder John Krise said. “Until this pollution dissipates, and that might take a thousand years.”

Canoe: Well-attended potlatch energizes Squaxin Island tribal members - Sometime Sunday, tribal families from all over the Pacific Northwest will pack up their regalia, drums, canoes and memories, and return to their ancestral lands stretching from northern British Columbia to Oregon. Left behind will be the slightly more than 1,000 Squaxin Island tribal members who played host to the 2012 Paddle to Squaxin canoe journey and weeklong potlatch protocol. The Squaxins, almost to a person, worked long and hard to host this annual celebration of tribal culture that drew thousands of people to their reservation, nestled amid the seven South Sound inlets they call home. The experience has enriched the tribe, strengthened their youth and pointed to an even brighter future for a tribe that 30 years ago was struggling to survive.

Canoe: Flotilla Landing Ends 2012 Tribal Canoe Journey On Sunday - An audience of thousands is expected at the port of Olympia this Sunday to witness the conclusion of the annual Northwest Indian canoe journey. The picture could be reminiscent of scenes from centuries ago. A flotilla of traditional cedar canoes appears offshore. The pullers raise their paddles to signify they come in peace.

Canoe: Tribal gathering brings vast sense of heritage, tradition - The anticipation is building. Nearly 13,000 Native American and First Nation tribes, representing 130 Northwest Coastal tribal communities are paddling down Puget Sound this morning. They are coming from places like Alaska, California, Hawaii and British Columbia. When they land at North Point on the Port peninsula Sunday afternoon, it will mark the end of the 2012 Canoe Journey, and the beginning of a weeklong celebration of the revival of Northwest Indian traditions and sharing of individual tribal cultures.

Canoe: Indian Canoe Journey makes its way into South Sound - The annual Northwest Coast Indian Canoe Journey, which was set to arrive in Tacoma on Thursday and ends with a six-day celebration at the Squaxin Island Reservation next week, is, on the surface at least, about long-distance canoe paddling. More than 100 traditional cedar canoes from tribes as far away as Alaska have joined for the marathon journey, hop scotching from tribe to tribe along the way.

Canoe: Video: Tribal canoes leave West Seattle, headed south - We’re at Constellation Park right now and are seeing the Paddle to Squaxin canoes start to pass off Beach Drive, after their departure from Alki. You can hear the pullers from here, since they’re not too far offshore.

Canoe: Suquamish couple working to build canoe museum - Suquamish tribal elder Betty Pasco treasures every detail of the 25-foot black and red cedar canoe her husband, Duane, crafted for her from a single Canadian log, from the stylized crows carved into its bow to the adze marks that help it glide through the water.

Canoe: Tribal canoes landing at Alki during Paddle to Squaxin-July 23, 2012 - Canoes participating in the annual Pacific Northwest tribes’ journey are landing at Alki Beach this afternoon – the first arrivals are already here. Alki is a stop along the way to Squaxin Island in the South Sound, which this year is the site of the gathering to which, according to the official announcement, as many as 130 canoes in all are headed (starting with a landing in Olympia next Sunday).

Canoe: Canoes welcomed to Port Townsend - Canoes traveling in the 2012 Paddle to Squaxin came ashore at Fort Worden State Park on Thursday, with pullers greeted by an enthusiastic crowd. Twenty-two canoes landed on the beach between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., though four got right back into the water to travel to the next stop on the journey, Port Gamble, and more may have landed later in the day. Port Townsend does not have a resident tribe, so the three tribes of the Klallam nation — the Lower Elwha, Jamestown and Port Gamble — joined together to provide a warm welcome.

Canoe: Journey breathes new life into art of canoe carving | Canoe Journey 2012 - As he sands, Vincent Chargualaf, 17, thinks about why making his own paddle for Canoe Journey is so important to him. Traditional carving is taking root in the younger Native generation, whose parents were at the forefront of the revival but whose grandparents still remember the days when their culture was banned. Carving paddles is an introductory lesson to one of the most important aspects of Northwest Coast Native culture: the canoe.

Canoe: Seafood bash awaits tribal canoeists at first stop - Tribal Journeys canoes had weathered thunderstorms, wind and driving rain Friday by the time they reached Port Gamble Bay. The crews still paddled strong, however, perhaps warm with the knowledge that the fires were already blazing on Point Julia, and hundreds of pounds of steaming shellfish were awaiting their arrival.

Canoe: Tribal canoes to arrive in Port Angeles this afternoon - At least 17 canoes from West Olympic Peninsula tribes and Vancouver Island First Nations will arrive in Port Angeles today on their journey to Squaxin Island. The canoes are expected between noon and 4 p.m. at Hollywood Beach, where they will be greeted by Lower Elwha Klallam tribal singers and dancers. Six canoes from the Hoh, Quileute and Makah are anticipated to pull ashore, along with 11 First Nations canoes that will cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Victoria. The Quinault tribal canoe families may rejoin the journey in Port Angeles, after a number of Quinault pullers gathered Friday for the funeral of a tribal member in Taholah. The pullers, with the addition of the Elwha canoes, will depart from Hollywood Beach early Wednesday, bound for Jamestown Beach in Sequim, for a welcome from the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.

Canoe: Canoe Journey: 21st annual event visits Kitsap July 20-22 - The territory of the Squaxin Island Tribe is the final destination of this year’s Canoe Journey, but each stop along the way is as important as the next. At a skippers meeting last year, Raymond Patrick Hillaire of the Lummi Indian Nation told of the healing that comes from the “never-ending flow of love” at each stop of the Canoe Journey. He told of the losses that the ancestors suffered — children lost to diseases, religious practices banned, villages destroyed. And yet, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren live, the languages are spoken, the songs are sung, and the culture survives.

Canoe: Journey builds bridges between cultures - Since its inception, the Canoe Journey has built bridges of understanding between cultures. For the non-Native community, the Journey is an entry into the ceremonies and longhouses, an introduction to the dances and songs, languages and protocols, gifting and sharing. This year in Suquamish, as in past years, visitors will enjoy a dinner of salmon and crab provided by the Tribe, as well as side dishes provided by volunteers from the Suquamish Olalla Neighbors. Volunteers also help serve meals.

Canoe: Waka captains join native American canoe journey - Two crew members of traditional war canoe Te Hono Ki Aotearoa, which was part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the river Thames, are heading to the United States next week for the Tribal Canoe Journey.

Canoe: Blaine man to paddle Squaxin in hand-carved canoe - A member of the Haida Nation, Saaduuts began carving canoes in 1996. Saaduuts’ adopted grandson Brant Lodge...helped Saaduuts finish his most recent project, which took an abnormally long five years to complete. Not yet named, the 38-foot canoe will be gifted to and used by the Nisqually tribe in this year’s paddle.

Canoe: Canoe Journey packs some economic punch - It’s tough to pinpoint the exact economic impact from the annual Canoe Journey. But Noel Higa, economic development director for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, said it’s readily apparent in the sales of one commodity: hot dogs. Port Gamble S’Klallam will host nearly 100 other Tribal communities when their canoes land July 20, and Suquamish will then host July 21-22. This year the host of the journey is the Squaxin Island Tribe, where all canoes will land for a weeklong celebration beginning July 29.

Canoe: Pulling in the Canoe Journey requires physical, spiritual fitness - When the pullers participating in the journey to Squaxin Island are on the water, they will rely on one another. They will be pullers. More so, they will be sxwq’u’7kwt (sue kwoakthl) — canoe partners. Each person in the canoe will rely on the others, not only to pull great distances at a time, but also to know their own abilities, to know their strengths.

Canoe Journey: 'Because of who we are' - When attending a celebration, such as a wedding, western cultural tradition is to bring a gift to the hosts. In Northwest Coast Native culture, the gifting ceremony is an immensely important, elaborate protocol called potlatch — it is the hosts that give gifts to those who are there. This year, thousands of pullers (the term for paddlers in the canoe), support teams and guests will descend on the Port Gamble S’Klallam and Suquamish reservations July 20-22, before the Journey ends in Squaxin, near Olympia, July 29. Port Gamble S’Klallam community members will spend the next month or so collecting cedar bark, oil, and ingredients for traditional medicines for their gifts.

Canoe Journey: Connecting Through Canoes and Story