News
Page 8
Street Roots • August 19-25, 2016
Street Roots • August 19-25, 2016
News
Page 9
resurgence
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The 2016 Paddle to Nisqually - the largest canoe
journey since the Native American tradition was
resurrected in 1989 - not only showcases skill and
strength but also preserves native customs and values
BY STEPHEN QUIRKE
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
n July 30, 20,000 people descended
on the Port of Olympia to greet more
than 120 tribal canoes for the 2016
Paddle to Nisqually. The canoes were
organized as families representing more
than 50 indigenous nations, and had
paddled, or “pulled” their canoes for more
than 100 miles for a traditional potlatch
gathering.
Indigenous nations participated from all
over the Pacific Northwest, with the Maori
journeying from New Zealand and the
Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee)
traveling from Eastern North America. This
year’s journey marked the largest event
recorded since 1989, when annual paddles
were initiated to restore traditional canoe
culture.
Canoe families spend years to prepare for
the journey - learning traditional songs and
dances, preparing hundreds of gifts, building
their canoes and practicing on the water. In
effect, the annual gathering is an occasion
to showcase the strength, skill and
perseverance of tribal cultures all across the
Pacific Northwest and an invitation to
restore traditions that knit those cultures
together.
Two new canoe families made their debut
in Nisqually this year - Portland’s Native
American Youth and Family Center and the
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
This year’s journey was hosted by the
Nisqually Tribe, which involved hospitality
for the canoe families in a six-day potlatch
ceremony, a gift-giving feast, that often ran
O
late into the night. As celebrations of
cultural regeneration, the annual canoe
journeys are the largest intertribal
gatherings in the Pacific Northwest and are
believed to be the largest drug- and alcohol-
free gatherings in the region.
Canoe journey
The annual canoe journey began in 1989
with the celebration of the Centennial
Accord, which marked a turning point in
tribal relations with the state of Washington,
and established a formal government-to-
government relationship between state
agencies and tribal governments. The 1989
accord promised an end to the era that
branded native fishermen as “renegades”
simply for practicing their ancient fishing
traditions.
Up until the 1980s, the state of
Washington had harassed and clubbed native
fishermen for exercising their
constitutionally protected treaty rights to
hunt, fish and gather food at their
accustomed places. Those practices were
formally rebuked by U.S. District Judge
George Boldt in 1974 after a similar ruling
from U.S. District Judge George Belloni
across the river in Oregon. Extreme
resistance to these rulings by the state of
Washington eventually forced a federal
takeover of Washington fisheries. The Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals wrote, “Except for
some desegregation cases ... the district
court has faced the most concerted official
and private efforts to frustrate a decree of a
federal court witnessed in this century.”
And the state’s outrageous efforts to
PHOTO BY MARY RENVILLE
Above, Portland’s Native American Youth and Family Center was one of two canoe families
who made their debut at the 2016 Paddle to Nisqually. At top, tribal communities are greeted
upon arrival.
obstruct native culture was, unfortunately,
not limited to fishing. Jane Renville Wood
(Sisseton-Wahpeton-Oyate) of the NAYA
canoe family explained:
“Whether it was Ghost Dance, whether it
was Sun Dance - people were actually
imprisoned, hanged, for doing their cultural^
spiritual events. And so for a long time it
happened, but it was underground and
hidden. There has come a time where
people feel they can do these things again
within their communities, and actually
publicly. So this is really a rebirth, and that’s
why it’s so cathartic.”
The return of canoe culture
After winning their century-long battle for
fishing rights, native peoples celebrated by
initiating the first modern canoe journey -
the 1989 Paddle to Seattle. Since the
following journey to Bella Bella in 1993,
these canoe journeys have happened every
year and have seen steady growth.
Renville Wood likens it to the Olympics,
with the host country named in advance,
and the understanding that they will make
all accommodations for their guests. Unlike
the Olympics, of course, the goal is not to
generate tourism dollars, but rather to
regenerate culture and hospitality.
That difference produces consequences.
While the Olympic games in Brazil have
drawn heavy public criticism for displacing
the poor, the potlatch at the heart of the
canoe journey pushes in exactly the
opposite direction - emphasizing the gifting
responsibility of those who are most able to
procure wealth. In this way, the potlatch
encourages the circulation of wealth and
discourages the accelerating dynamic of rich
and poor that plagues settler society.
The Nisqually Tribe organized for three
years to prepare for the gathering and spent
ILLM
$13 million to provide
accommodations for their guests,
Renville Wood said. According to the
Nisqually, the land cleared for their guests
will also be the future site of an affordable-
hpusing complex for tribal elders.
“Every single boat pulled up to' shore and
asked permission to land,” Renville Wood
said. “Everyone says with a song, in their
native language, ‘We are tired, we are
hungry, we are thirsty, we seek permission
to land.’”
This year, the Nisqually canoe family was
the last to land and carried Washington Gov.
Jay Inslee into the port.
After all the boats had landed, canoe
families were shuttled several miles east to
Nisqually country to make camp. The next
day, hundreds gathered to honor the historic
site where the 1854 Treaty of Medicine
Creek was signed - a site that is now in the
Billy Frank Jr. National Wildlife Refuge.
The return of gift culture
For six days after the landing, canoe
families went through the potlatch protocol -
performing traditional songs and dances and
giving and receiving gifts with the host tribe.
Before NAYA’s canoe family entered the
protocol area, Mary Renville, Jane Renville
Wood’s mother and also Sisseton-Wahpeton-
Oyate, explained the significance of the
ceremony.
“It is a potlatch ceremony from the
Northwest Coast,” she said. “What happens
is: Your wealth is not determined by how
much you accumulate but by how much you
can give away. And so that’s something that
our community has been doing this past year
- gathering as much to give away as we
possibly can.
“The potlatch was a really spiritual
ceremony that was conducted by the
Northwest coast Indians, but it was
forbidden by the government back in the late
1890s,” she said. “After 1978, with the
passage of the Indian Religious Freedom Act
when
we got to practice our
religions again, the potlatch came back and
has been spreading all across the Northwest
Coast more and more, just as the canoe
journey is spreading more and more across
the Northwest. So this is really a spiritual
journey that we’re on.”
“I’m
here getting my real
education,” Lopez said. “Just coming in and
being there in front of all the people, being
announced as NAYA, filled me up with more
pride than I have felt in a long time. It just
made me feel like I was a part of something
NAYA’s first canoe family
larger than just myself.”
“I’d rank it something like
The NAYA canoe family
10-plus,” said Renville Wood.
began its weeklong
“It connects people on every
journey from Skokomish
single level. It’s a chance to
"fast
coming
in
and
on July 23, traveling
connect again. It’s a chance
being there in front of
alongside three other
to be around people who are
Ml the people, being
canoe families - the
just like you, who understand
Grand Ronde, the Coos
announced as NAW,
you. It’s so wonderful. I’m
and the Suquamish. The
filled me up with more just at a loss to describe it.”
canoe families arrived at
To prepare for the journey,
pride than I have felt
Port Gamble the following
the NAYA canoe family
in
a
long
time.
It
just
evening, then got up at 3
made me feel like I was practiced every Sunday for
a.m. the next morning to
three years. Their routine
a part of something
pull themselves to
followed a basic alternating
larger than just my
Suquamish. They picked
schedule: twice a month they
up dozens of canoe
self " .
practiced in their canoe on
families along each stop.
ENRIQUE LOPEZ, the Willamette and Columbia
By the end of the week,
APACHE MEMBER OF THE rivers; twice a month, they
NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH AND
they had pulled 180 miles
FAMILY CENTER CANOE FAMILY did off-river exercise and
and were accompanied by
practiced traditional songs
more than 120 native
and dances. All of this would
canoes.
have been impossible without
NAYA’s 30-foot canoe is a mix of cedar
the constant guidance of elders.
strip and fiberglass and was built by master
“It’s been really beautiful to see their
weaver, carver and canoe-maker John
dream come true and watch their faces as
Edward Smith of Skokomish. It was named
we’re coming in,” Monique Lopez (Apache)
El Lobo (The Wolf) by elder Frank Alby.
said of the elder tribal members. “It’s so
Skipper Lukas Angus (Nez Perce) said the
beautiful to see that excitement.”
crew tried to model its behavior on a wolf
A ground support team of family members
pack.
moved alongside the canoe route to replace
tired crew members and to ensure the camp
Many participants struggled to express
was well stocked with supplies.
how important it was to be part of the
“Most of our eating was done on the
journey.
canoe during the day,” Angus said. “We kind
“It’s life changing,” Angus said.
of ate our lunches while paddling.”
Enrique Lopez (Apache) said he wished
Deanie Johnson (Warm Springs) said she
the gathering would never end.
Members of the
'confederated
tribes of
Warm Springs
conduct a
traditional
dance during
their
ceremonial
ted
Nisqually.
is immensely
proud of what her tribe has done by joining
the canoe journey.
“We originated from the Columbia River,
and we did use canoes before the treaty of
1855 forced us back inland to the Warm
Springs reservation where it is now, in
central Oregon,” Johnson said. “So we kind
of lost that canoe culture. But we brought
back our tradition with the canoe journey. It
brought a lot of people together to work with
a team and bond, to work together and pull
as one, come together and celebrate our
dances. More of our people have learned the
dances, the songs, everything that ties in to
being on the canoe journey, so I think it’s a
wonderful thing for our people to revive our
culture and to carry it on.”
The growth of the tribal canoe journeys
and the increasing generosity of its hosts are
an important sign of cultural revitalization in
Indian country. It is also evidence of the
growing success of indigenous sovereignty
and the need for settler governments to
adjust to that sovereignty so that cultural
resources can be restored.
By reconnecting youths and elders, the
canoe journeys reunite families and re-weave
the relationships that allow for the
transmission of vital cultural knowledge - a
critical source of healing for native
communities.
“When you hear a drum, it beats to your
heart,” NAYA’s Jane Renville Wood said.
“You feel it in your heart. And you literally
just start crying. Because it’s been gone for
so long. And to have it again is an amazing,
amazing moment.”