NEAH BAY – The Makah ceremonially greeted about 30 Quileute pullers as they came to shore at Neah Bay on Thursday during the 2007 Paddle to Lummi.
More canoes will join the journey today to go to Pillar Point, where they will spend the night before heading for Port Angeles on Saturday.
About 80 canoes are expected to begin to arrive at Lummi Island near Bellingham on July 30 for a weeklong festival.
The annual journey of Native Americans and Canada First Nations people has a different destination each year.
The next destination on the North Olympic Peninsula will be at the Makah Reservation at Neah Bay in 2010.
The Quileute, using three canoes, paddled from the Quileute Marina in LaPush to Waatch Point, where they spent Wednesday night before heading for Neah Bay.
Earlier reports were that canoes had been trucked, rather than paddled to Neah Bay, but that was report was incorrect.
The Quileute – including at least a dozen young people – have been paddling their canoes.
“We’ve been doing morning runs so far,” said Mel Moon, a Quileute puller.
“I’ve participated every year, and I even was part of the first one to Seattle, and it is very exciting.”
Each of the three canoes contains about 10 people.
One is a hand-carved wooden Quileute canoe, another is on loan from the Queets and the third is a brand new fiberglass canoe with a name which translates into “Well-Being” or “Wellness,” and is meant to spread drug and alcohol abuse awareness.
The Quilleute canoes stayed Wednesday night in tents in Mary Greene’s yard, on a beach at the mouth of Waatch River, participants said.
The groups have been leaving in the mornings, but Moon wasn’t sure when they would leave Neah Bay.
The time would be determined by the captains.
The pullers will be greeted in Port Angeles by the hosting Lower Elwha Klallam, fed and welcomed overnight.
They are expected to leave at about 6 a.m. Sunday morning.
Later that day, they are expected to reach a beach at 1252 Jamestown Road, where they will be welcomed ashore by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.
Vickie Carroll, cultural coordinator for the tribe, said the pullers are to be served a private dinner at 4 p.m. – if all goes as scheduled – at Sequim High School.
Pullers will camp overnight at Greywolf Elementary School in Sequim.
They are expected to reach Port Townsend on Monday. The pullers will stay overnight but will not be hosted by a tribe there.