PORT TOWNSEND — About 300 people gathered at Fort Worden State Park to watch the ritual welcome of canoes and their pullers Tuesday.
The canoes of the 2011 Tribal Canoe Journey then continued east off the Olympic Peninsula toward their eventual destination near La Conner in Skagit County.
Fourteen canoes landed on the Fort Worden beach between 9:30 a.m. and noon Tuesday after receiving permission to come ashore from Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Chairman Ron Allen, who had welcomed pullers at Jamestown Beach the day before.
“The spirit has been good this year,” Allen said Tuesday.
“There are lots of young people pulling this year,” he added.
“You can see the enthusiasm is rising.”
Tribes traveling from all over the Pacific Northwest — including the North Olympic Peninsula — Oregon, Alaska and Canada stopped overnight on their way to La Conner, where the Swinomish will host a week of festivities from July 25-31.
“Paddle to Swinomish 2011” participants will move on today, visiting Port Gamble tonight and Suquamish on Thursday before heading north.
On the Peninsula, the Quinault began their journey on July 10.
Peninsula tribes have hosted stops in LaPush, Neah Bay and Port Angeles, as well as Jamestown Beach and Port Townsend.
When each canoe approached the beach, one of the paddlers asked permission to come ashore, which was then granted by Allen, preserving a centuries-long tradition revived only 22 years ago.
The first paddle journey was in 1989, when nine canoes traveled from Suquamish to Seattle.
Since then, it has grown into a fleet that often numbers canoes from close to 100 tribes.
The annual Native American cultural event traces the ancestral trading routes of tribes from Western Washington and British Columbia.
The weeklong festivities of the final stop for the annual gathering are hosted by a different tribe each year.
On the North Olympic Peninsula, the Makah in Neah Bay hosted it last year and the Lower Elwha in Port Angeles hosted it in 2005.
Along the way, pullers ask for permission from other tribes to come ashore. They typically spend one night at a given tribal area — hosted with food and an exchange of songs, dances and stories — and continue the journey with more canoes and more pullers the next day.
Ritual won’t fade
This is one ritual that is not likely to fade away, Allen said.
Jamestown member Heidi Eberle, a 20-year-old nursing student who took over the greeting from Allen for several of the canoes, agreed.
“A lot of my friends enjoy the singing and the pulling,” she said.
“This is our way of continuing the traditions and keeping the community together.”
The traditional nature of the ceremony moved many of the non-tribal attendees.
“This is an example of our history that is incredibly moving,” said Teresa Verraes, Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce executive director:
Said Christina Pivarnik, city of Port Townsend marketing director: “I watch this every year and every year I cry.
“It’s a great tradition that never grows old.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.