PORT ANGELES — A string of tribal canoes lined Port Angeles Harbor like airplanes on their final approach to land at a busy airport.
One by one, each canoe made a loop in front of Hollywood Beach and pulled up to the sand.
“We would love your permission to come ashore and join the festivities and sing and have a great time with you, our sister tribe,” said Kissendrah Johnson, a puller in a Jamestown S’Klallam canoe that landed at the Port Angeles beach at 12:30 p.m. Friday.
“It’s good to see you, our Jamestown relatives,” replied Ashley Pitchford of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
“We’re happy you’re home.
“Come ashore! Come ashore!”
Versions of that exchange — including greetings in native languages — took place more than 30 times on Friday as the 2010 Tribal Canoe Journey landed in Port Angeles.
Pullers and their families spent two nights celebrating at the Lower Elwha tribal center before the final push to Neah Bay.
The Makah tribe expects 10,000 persons when Tribal Journey participants, families and supporters arrive at their final destination for a five-day celebration in Neah Bay on Monday.
The Lower Elwha tribe played host to pullers and support staff for 66 canoes, some of which were trucked to the tribal center for two-days of protocols, which are songs, dances and stories.
Bad weather forced the cancelation of the stopover at Jamestown Beach on Thursday. No one was injured when eight pullers from Canadian First Nations tipped over off the southern soast of Vancouver Island on Thursday.
There were reports of other canoes in trouble.
“Yesterday we were pulling our hair out,” said Frances Charles, Lower Elwha tribal chairwoman.
“Today it’s beautiful.”
Tribal members shuttled members of the canoe teams from Port Angeles to the tribal center west of town.
Charles and other Elwha officials monitored each canoe as they made their way to shore.
“The communication has been really good,” Charles said.
Dinners for the canoe families and protocol ceremonies were planned for Friday and Saturday evening. The public was invited to the protocols.
The Jamestown S’Klallam was among the tribes that towed canoes to the Port Angeles Marina on Friday and paddled into nearby Hollywood Beach because of concerns about the weather.
Johnson, the Jamestown puller, said conditions were perfect on Friday.
“It was really nice,” she said.
While the Tribal Journey is not a race, many tribes take pride in moving through the water at a good clip. The Squamish Nation is one.
“This is just what we do,” said Ray Natraoro, Squamish skipper and master carver.
“We just take it seriously.”
Natraoro and his pullers were the first to land at Hollywood Beach on Friday. They came ashore in a 40-foot dugout canoe called Xaays.
They left at Jamestown Beach at about 7 a.m. and arrived in Port Angeles shortly before 11 a.m.
Natraoro carved the canoe to showcase it for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Hot rocks were added to eight inches of water to steam the canoe. The steam allowed Natraoro and his helpers to widen the canoe from 36 to 48 inches.
Natraoro built another Squamish canoe in 1992 and two Suquamish canoes that landed at Hollywood Beach on Friday — the Siyam Oaks and Kalkalaxay’.
To prepare for the rigors of the Tribal Canoe Journey, Natraoro and his pullers began training in March.
They started with cardiovascular work and incorporated weight lifting, especially shoulder and back exercises, to their regimen.
Water training, much of which was spent dragging large buckets behind the canoe to put strain on the pullers to build muscle and endurance, began in April.
They practiced for one to three hours per day, five times a week.
They also adhere to a strict diet, including fruits and vitamin-infused water.
“It builds stamina and endurance for the long grind,” Natraoro said.
Pullers pay close attention to the tides to maximize paddling efficiency.
Natraoro said it’s important to honor and respect the water.
He added that the cultural significance of Tribal Journey makes it special.
“We are celebrating who we are as First Nations,” Natraoro said.
To illustrate how the canoe journey spans the generations, Natraoro noted that the oldest puller on his canoe is 67 — and the youngest is 11.
“It brings a lot of people together,” he said.
Eight canoes had arrived at Hollywood Beach by noon.
Warm Springs, Nisqually and Snohomish canoes arrived a short time later.
Two Elwha canoes pulled up to the beach at 12:51 p.m., which chants of “Elwha!” and “Warriors!” bouncing between the canoes and the drummers gathered on the shore.
At about 1:30 p.m., the first canoe from Vancouver Island — the Huu Pah Quin, meaning “Treasures of our chief” — landed at Hollywood Beach.
“It was a little choppy in the middle,” said skipper Julie Morri from the Mowachaht Nation in west central Vancouver Island about crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Morri and her pullers from several different tribes left Beecher Bay at about 6 a.m. for a 71âÑ2-hour crossing.
Pullers in the Moomooquin canoe were the grandchildren and young relatives of Suquamish skippers.
“I’m very proud of them,” skipper Parker Mack said of the new generation of pullers.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.
