S moke S ignals
SEPTEMBER 1, 2017
19
Canoe Journey to Campbell River went well
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
One advantage to the 2017 Canoe
Journey being held in Campbell
River, British Columbia, was that
the Grand Ronde Canoe Fami-
ly was among the first Tribes to
participate in protocol on Sunday,
Aug. 6.
Portland Area Office Tribal Ser-
vices Representative Lisa Archule-
ta, who went as a cook as part of
the ground crew support staff, said
the Canoe Family was one of the
first Tribes on the floor because
the protocol order is determined by
which Tribe traveled the farthest to
the event. Farthest away goes first.
The 2017 Ca-
noe Journey was
hosted by the We
Wai Kai and Wei
Wai Kum First
Nations located
at the northern
end of the Strait
of Georgia, which
is the body of wa-
ter between Van-
couver Island
and mainland
Canada.
General Man-
ager David Ful-
lerton said this was the third Canoe
Journey in Canada that the Grand
Ronde Tribe has participated in
and that experience helped make
logistics for the trip easier to man-
age.
“I think it went well,” Fullerton
said. “We put a feasible schedule
together. We weren’t on the water
as much as we typically are on some
trips, but I would say that we know
Photos courtesy of Teal Reibach
The Grand Ronde Canoe Family, left, arrives in Stankiya to Campbell River,
British Columbia, Canada, on Saturday, Aug. 5, for Landing Day of the 2017
Canoe Journey. This year’s journey was hosted by We Wai Kai and Wei Wai
Kum First Nations. At left, Wocus Gibbons sits in Stankiya as the Grand Ronde
Canoe Family arrives in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada.
that when we go to Canada we’re
going to have a reduced crew.”
Fullerton and Emergency Oper-
ations Coordinator Steve Warden
staffed the support boat that shad-
owed the paddlers in Stankiya.
The Grand Ronde Canoe Family
left Grand Ronde on July 29 and
drove to a campsite in Blaine,
Wash., just south of the U.S.-Ca-
nadian border. The next day, they
crossed the border and took a fer-
ry to Duke Point on the eastern
shore of Vancouver Island. The
Canoe Family spent two nights
in Nanaimo, hosted by Vicki and
Herman Johnny, before paddling
northward.
Tribal pullers stopped in Nanoose
Bay, Qualicum Beach, Comox and
Miracle Beach along the way, arriv-
ing in Campbell River on Saturday,
Aug. 5, for Landing Day.
The Canoe Family had to pull
Stankiya out of the water one day
and did not paddle another because
of high winds, Fullerton said. Cul-
tural Resources Cultural Education
Specialist Brian Krehbiel and Zoey
Holsclaw skippered the canoe.
Tribal Council Secretary Jon
A. George met up with the Canoe
Family in Comox.
“What I am especially proud of
about our people and youth is that
the one message that we can say is
how strong the word ‘family’ is in
Canoe Family,” George said during
the Tuesday, Aug. 15, Legislative
Action Committee meeting. “To see
20 tents torn down at 3:30 in the
morning, gathering people together
to get ready to get in the van and
especially the paddlers to also end
up on the water by 5 a.m. I am so
proud of how that worked. They
made it seem so seamless.”
Tribal Council member Brenda
Tuomi and her husband, Ron, also
attended the Canoe Journey.
“It was pretty amazing,” Tuomi
said about attending her first Ca-
noe Journey and seeing all of the
canoes arriving for Landing Day.
“Protocol on Sunday was another
beautiful experience. I think all
Tribal members would have been
very proud of our Canoe Family
when they came in for protocol. I
was very proud of our youth.”
Archuleta kept Canoe Family
members fed with sandwiches, pro-
tein snacks, boiled eggs, peanut but-
ter and jelly sandwiches and fruit.
Cultural Resources Manager
David Harrelson supervised the
support crew effort, which included
Archuleta, Dependency Counselor
Joe Martineau, Jade and Mirinda
Unger, Prevention Coordinator
Cristina Lara, and Cultural Co-
ordinator Jordan Mercier and his
wife, Amanda.
In all, about 50 Tribal members
and staff traveled the approximate-
ly 500 miles from Grand Ronde to
Campbell River for all or part of
Canoe Journey.
Harrelson said one of his favorite
memories of participating in his
first Canoe Journey was learning
a haka dance for protocol from the
two Maoris who accompanied the
Canoe Family on the journey. The
Maoris were part of Toi Maori,
an arts organization that has a
longstanding relationship with the
Grand Ronde Tribe.
He also remembers the Canoe
Family singing, drumming and
dancing on the top deck of the
return ferry from Duke Point to
Tsawwassen and attracting a pod
of orcas.
“The people on the ferry said they
never see whales on the crossing,”
he said. “They said, ‘You brought
these whales.’ The whales know
those old songs.”
Overall, all involved said the
journey was a success logistically,
culturally and personally.
“The Canoe Journey went really
well this year,” Harrelson said. “We
had a cohesive group of people.”
“It was a good group of people,”
Archuleta said. “The kids were
awesome and the Maoris who went
along fit in well. I thought it was a
really good journey.”
“I am so thankful for everybody
and how we worked together,”
George said. He said he was proud
“to see our youth in the canoe at
landing with 100 canoes lining the
shore.”
“Each community that we stayed
in went above and beyond to make
sure that all of our needs were met,”
Fullerton said.
Harrelson said the Cultural Re-
sources Department plans to build
between one and three new canoes
this year and the department is
looking to offer monthly canoe pad-
dles to help with training and build
endurance. In addition, he said
canoe opportunities are occurring
in September, including the races
held in Coquille Sept. 9-10.
The 2018 Canoe Journey will be
held in Puyallup, Wash.