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Snoqualmie Family Canoe Journey

Snoqualmie Family Canoe Journey. July 2003.

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Snoqualmie Family Canoe Journey

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  1. Snoqualmie Family Canoe Journey July 2003

  2. Imagine the salty smell of ocean air, the sway of a dugout canoe under your body, and the chilly splash of waves in your face. One hundred years or more ago, that would have been a central part of life for Native Americans in the Pacific NW. Canoes were carved from massive trees (primarily cedar).

  3. The canoes were the main transportation and fish, whales, and shellfish were central to survival. For Indians in the Pacific NW today, the canoe way of life continues to be a rite of passage through new doorways and a spiritual symbol of healing transformation.

  4. Canoe History in the Northwest Canoe Picture 1912 from Tulalip website

  5. The Canoe Journeys in the Pacific NW began formally as a rediscovery of NW Native Culture in 1989.

  6. The Snoqualmie Tribe began to participate in this resurgence of tradition on the Canoe Journey of 2002. We were guests of the Raven Society with the Suquamish Tribe. Picture from Duane Pasco’s website

  7. Throughout the 2003 year, the Snoqualmie Tribe built their dugout canoe. • It had been many years since the Snoqualmie people had built their own canoe. Carver Ray Natral worked with the Snoqualmie people in building a dugout canoe. Many of the youth participated in this process as well.

  8. It took several months to complete the building of Spirit of the Salmon. • A photo journal was compiled, however the elders have said that those pictures are sacred and not to be shared publicly.

  9. Upon completion of the canoe, it was blessed and named by tribal elders.

  10. The Canoe Journey is important on many levels in family’s lives It engages people mentally, physically, traditionally, spiritually, intellectually and emotionally.

  11. The Snoqualmie Tribal community is one in which the components and requirements of the Canoe Journey have been a traditional way of living and being.

  12. Family involvement with the canoe • Year round participation and preparation • Drug/alcohol free and violence free • Talking circles • Potlatch • Paddle and drum making • Parenting • Learning from elders

  13. Family Involvement (cont.) • Cold water training • CPR/1st Aid • Ground squirrel training • Material gathering • Singing, drumming, language classes

  14. Canoe family members create traditional crafts for give aways which respect and honor tribal leaders/elders and canoe project leaders. • Those family members over the age of 12 will do the actual training to pull on the canoe.

  15. Younger children and family members who do not paddle, learn how to take down and set up tents, prepare meals, set up and take down camp, and support the people pulling on the canoe.

  16. Overall Goals for Participants • Teamwork • Communication • Respect for self and others • Honor of traditions • Responsibility and accountability to the family and community • Education/history through storytelling and cultural tradition

  17. What participants gain from this experience • Commitment: sobriety, school, to one another and to the journey • Purification and Healing • Identity • Reconciliation and healing • Reconnection to the community and traditional ways of living • Ceremony, story and meaning

  18. Positive Meanings of the Canoe Journey • The best thing about this project as an engagement strategy, is that it is fun and exciting for families. • It is a journey and an adventure for all participants. • It is a way to understand who we are as Indian people living in the NW. • Most importantly, we all learn as a Canoe Family from one another and grow as Indian people in becoming one.

  19. Canoe Journey as an Engagement Strategy when working with families involved with Child Welfare • Social Services offers the Canoe Journey Project to families as part of a Service plan • Service plan is then the court required services for reunification • Caretakers of children and parents involved with children on the Canoe Journey with support from the Canoe Family • Sobriety is required throughout the journey • Non-adversarial interaction in addressing child welfare concerns • Community accountability for one’s behavior and actions

  20. Thank you! Huy’ • We wish to thank all of you for witnessing our journey of 2003. • We worked very hard and our families and ourselves are forever changed by this experience. • We have learned that when we come together in our traditional ways, we become whole as Indian people

  21. Spirit of the Salmon 2003

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