Pink Paddlers to spread the word on cancer detection during Tribal Canoe Journey
"Healing Voyage" canoe skipper Harry Moon, center, leads the Pink Paddle group on a practice paddle around Port Angeles Harbor on Sunday. Included at the front of the canoe are paddlers Sara Moore, left, and Katherine Youngman. -- Photo by Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News
By Paige Dickerson, Peninsula Daily News
Print This |
Email This
Recent Headlines
UPDATED -- Washington set to become seventh state to allow same-sex marriage -- 2/8/12 -04:40 PM
Olympic National Park superintendent to retire -- 2/8/12 -12:32 PM
Orcas in Discovery Bay (VIDEO) -- 2/8/12 -10:11 AM
SPORTS: Port Angeles girls beat Sequim, earn at least tie for second place -- 2/8/12 -09:01 AM
Port Angeles to stay in FEMA fight -- 2/7/12 -10:52 PM
They are survivors.
The Port Angeles group traveling in the canoe "Healing Voyage" — which is awaiting the arrival of canoes from the east — will use pink paddles to celebrate those who have survived cancer and remembering those who succumbed to it.
The front seat in the 10-person canoe is left empty for those cancer patients who have died, Roberta "Birdie" Kimberly said.
"That is their seat, those who have passed on," she said.
Up to 100 canoes
The canoe is one of about 33 from the North Olympic Peninsula which will join the July 28 gathering of 80 to 100 canoes in Cowichan, British Columbia, the destination of this year's annual Tribal Canoe Journey.
Including Canadian First Nations from both coasts of Vancouver Island, six routes — each an ancestral water highway of trade, culture and war — will lead to the festival near Duncan, British Columbia on the east coast of Vancouver Island.
Kimberly, who has dealt with cancer herself, started up the idea to recognize cancer survivors three years ago as an informational campaign.
Although last year and this year she has not participated in a canoe, she organizes each stop.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, she realized immediately that there aren't many services available for Native American women.
There are no Native cancer survivor support groups, and she had to go to Seattle for treatments. Outside of her family, there was no one else to support her through her battle.
"This journey is really the basis for our support group," she said.
Skipper from Canada
The skipper of this year's canoe is Harry Moon, a member of the Masagama Tsawataineuk tribe near Victoria who is also a cancer survivor.
"We allow men on the canoe because men can also get breast cancer," Kimberly said.
Last year, a couple of the cedar canoe paddles broke because of the men's strength.
"We had women's paddles made, so when the men used it and were so strong they split," she said.
New paddles were made for this year.
"All we have to do before the journey is get them painted pink and get the designs on them," Kimberly said.
The design — created by Darrell Charles — features an eagle on a ribbon shape, incorporating tribal images with that of the survivors' ribbon.
Kimberly will set up a booth at each stop along the canoe journey to talk to each reservation about cancer and breast cancer in particular.
First practice on Sunday
Those paddling "Healing Voyage" on the journey didn't have the chance to practice until Sunday.
"We had some trouble with the seats that needed repaired," Kimberly said.
"Just typical canoe stuff."
Carol Cooper, a breast cancer survivor of nearly five years, said the group will offer information on early detection, and Kimberly even has obtained a mammogram machine.
Cooper is joining the 10 or so people who will be paddling to the final destination.
Cooper went in 2006, the first year for the Pink Paddle Canoe group, but was undergoing reconstructive surgery last year and was unable to participate.
Joining Cooper paddling to Cowichan, British Columbia, is Rose Wilson, a 10-year breast cancer survivor.
Wilson has joined the group every year.
Last year, she shaved her hair leaving some hair in the shape of a 9 — the number of years her cancer was in remission — especially for the journey.
This year, her mane has grown out.
"It is really calming out on the water," she said.
"First you see the mountains and then you're out in the Strait — it is really beautiful."
Canoe journey schedule
Seventeen canoes are expected to arrive at the beach on the north side of Point Hudson in Port Townsend at about 2 p.m. today.
Three Klallam tribes — the Port Gamble S'Klallam, the Jamestown S'Klallam and the Lower Elwha Klallam — will greet the incoming canoes.
Paddlers are expected to camp at Memorial Field in Port Townsend before leaving on Tuesday for the Jamestown beach.
Canoes are expected to arrive at Jamestown, where they will be hosted by the Jamestown S'Klallam, at about 3 p.m. Tuesday.
They are expected to arrive by midafternoon Wednesday at Hollywood Beach at the foot of Lincoln Street in in Port Angeles.
The pullers will stay two days in Port Angeles, hosted by the Lower Elwha Kallam tribe, before they leave for Vancouver Island on Friday.
Western Washington tribes plan to begin paddling to Vancouver Island on Tuesday from Pillar Point.
Some 80 to 100 canoes are expected at the 2008 Tribal Canoe Journey destination in Cowichan, British Columbia, on July 28.
Last modified: July 20. 2008 9:00PM