NEAH BAY — Visitors learned about bald eagles, snacked and shopped for artwork at the inaugural Eagle Festival on Saturday.
The one-day festival offered eagle-inspired artwork, a lecture and stories about the eagles that not only congregate in and around Neah Bay but also are a important to the Makah tribal culture, said Meri Parker, Neah Bay Chamber of Commerce director.
It drew about 100 visitors from out of town, Parker said.
“We’re starting off small, but we will continue to expand it,” Parker said. “It will be the first of many.”
At the Makah Marina Conference Center on Bayview Avenue, local artists offered Native-tradition wood goods, including bentwood boxes and bowls, as well as weaving, and a collection of commemorative plates.
Handmade posters on the wall celebrated the bald eagle as a resident symbol of the coastal fishing town.
Eagle Egg Cookies — named for their shape, not their contents — Indian tacos and other food were sold.
In the Makah Cultural and Research Center classroom, Robert McCoy, a Makah tribal wildlife biologist, presented a lecture on bald eagles, and Makah story tellers offered tales about eagles.
In connection with the event, the chamber is launching an eagle photograph contest. Matted 8-inch by 10-inch, ready-to-display photographs of eagles are to be submitted by July 1.
They will be displayed at the annual Neah Bay Fourth of July event for a “people’s choice” judging, and some will be included in a book for next year’s festival.
For more information, phone Parker at 360-640-4852.
