Port Angeles: Carvers shaping new Lower Elwha canoe

PORT ANGELES — The sweet scent of cedar wafts past Harry Moon as he draws a sharp carving tool across the base of what will soon be a ceremonial oceangoing canoe.

In a week, Moon and Lower Elwha Klallam carvers Al Charles Jr. and Darrell Charles have transformed the log into the skeleton of a Coast Salish-style vessel that will join other tribal canoes in an annual journey along the Washington coast to the Quinault Reservation at Taholah.

The journey begins in early August, but already the canoe is nearing completion with the possibility of finishing a second canoe before Lower Elwha paddlers take to the water.

“We’re way ahead of schedule,” Moon, 42, said as he smoothed the canoe bottom with the tool called an adz. “We’re about a week ahead of where we figured we’d be.”

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KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
June Ward, 10, examines a wooden paddle she is decorating as her father, Jack Ward of Port Angeles, works on his own paddle during a craft-making session on Friday at the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center in Port Angeles. The paddles are among the thousands of gifts being created for participants in the 2025 Tribal Canoe Journey, hosted this year by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. The event begins with the landing of dozens of native canoes at the mouth of the Elwha River on July 31 and continues with five days of celebration on the Lower Elwha reservation west of Port Angeles. As many as 10,000 indigenous peoples are expected to take part. The public is invited to help with giftmaking sessions, scheduled daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Heritage Center.
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