canoe journey 2011

2011CANOE JOURNEY

Paddle to SwinomishJuly 25 - July 31 l Swinomish Village

La Conner, Washington

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2011 CANOE JOURNEY • PADDLE TO SWINOMISH • 3

LA CONNER WEEKLY NEWSLA CONNER WEEKLY NEWS313 Morris St. / Mail: POB 1465

La Conner, WA 98257Phone: 360-466-3315 • Fax: 360-466-1195

EMAILS: [email protected]@laconnernews.com

©2011 by La Conner Weekly News / All rights reserved

OWNERS & PUBLISHERSSandy Stokes & Cindy Vest

EDITORSMary Evitt & Sandy Stokes

ADVERTISING DIRECTORCindy Vest

ADVERTISING MANAGERBarbara Bear

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERSMary Evitt, Sandy Stokes, Sue Phillps,

Amylynn Richards, Jim Smith, Alexander Kramer, Mel Damski, Annabelle Vergne, Don Coyote,

Kirsten Morse. Theresa Trebon and Robin Carneen of Swinomish, Ann Smock of KeeYoks

COVER DESIGN/LAYOUTMichael Arthur & Cindy Vest

Printed by Sound Publishing, Inc.11323 Commando Rd. W., Suite 1 • Everett, WA 98204

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Table of Contents

Published in cooperation with Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

and

Leading the Journey..................................4

Welcome from the Chairman.....................5

Participating Tribesand where they’re from............................6

Protocol Schedule......................................7

Swadabs Park..........................................8

Canoe Seamanship..................................10

Cedar Hat Pavilions................................11

Potlatch Gifts.........................................12

Protocol Practice.....................................14

Protecting Mother Earth.........................17

Canoe Journey History............................18

A Spiritual Community............................23

An Elder’s Memory..................................25

John K. Bob Ballpark..............................27

Swinomish Totem Pole............................29

La Conner History...................................31

Advertiser Index.....................................33

Loving, Caring, Sharing...........................34

4 • 2011 CANOE JOURNEY • PADDLE TO SWINOMISH

Leading the JourneyThese are the people who

stood at the helm of a large force of volunteers from the communities on both sides of the Swinomish Channel orchestrating the planning and production of Paddle to Swinomish.

La Conner . . . your premierwaterfront destination welcomes

the 2011 Canoe Journey

Please visit us at www.townoflaconner.org

Brian CladoosbySwinomish Indian Tribal Community Chairman, now serving his 15th year.

Sophie BaileyMember, Swinomish Indian Senate, serving her third term and works as the Tribe’s Child Welfare Officer.

Kevin PaulMember, Swinomish Indian Senate, serving his second term and is also a well-known carver and artist.

Aurelia WashingtonCanoe Journey Coordinator, she is the former director of gaming at the Silver Reef Casino in Bellingham.

Melissa Edwards-MillerAssistant Canoe Journey Coordinator, she has owned and operated several businesses.


To our guests and good friendsWelcome to the ancestral homelands and waters of

the Swinomish People, where we have resided since time immemorial.

We are the descendents of tribes and bands that originally lived in the Skagit and Samish River valleys, the coastal areas surrounding Skagit, Padilla and Fidalgo bays and Saratoga Passage, and numerous islands, including Fidalgo, Camano, Whidbey and the San Juan Islands. Our four major groups and our allied bands – the Aboriginal Swinomish, Lower Skagit, Kikiallus and Aboriginal Samish Tribes – signed the Treaty of Point Elliott with the United States in 1855 and reserved the southeast peninsula of Fidalgo Island for their Reservation and future use. We are one of many communities within the Coast Salish Nation, along with our brothers and sisters of the Makah Nation and Bella Coola area, who reside upon the Salish Sea.

For thousands of years, like the People of the Salish Sea, the Swinomish culture has centered around abundant salt water resources that included salmon, shellfish, and marine mammals, as well as upland resources such as cedar, camas, berries, and wild game.

We live by the winter and summer seasonal cycle of resource gathering from the mouths of rivers and streams where salmon is taken, to coastal shorelines where shellfish and herring and other forage fish are taken, to marine waters where finfish and sea mammals are taken, and to inland forests where wild game and berries were taken.

The Swinomish people are honored to host the 2011 Tribal Journey, and on behalf of our community, I would like to extend our gratitude to the Swinomish Senate for committing to one of the largest cultural events in the Northwest.

Our community has celebrated with the families of the Salish Sea for the past 22 years in a cultural rejuvenation, culminating in the Annual Tribal Canoe Journey. Many of you may recall the Tribal Journeys began in 1989, intending to coincide with the bicentennial celebration for Washington State. A total of nine canoes participated in the “Paddle to Seattle,” and in 1993, 23 canoes participated in the “Paddle to Bella Bella.” Since 1993, “Tribal Journeys” or “The Paddle” has been held on an annual basis, with various tribes serving as the host tribe.

Today, Tribal Journey has over 100 canoes paddling in honor of our ancestors and preserving our culture for seven generations through the marine highway of the Salish Sea.

For Swinomish, our message this year reflects the traditional teachings that have guided our people forever. “Loving, Caring and Sharing” was often heard from our past honorable elder, Chester Cayou Sr. who was widely known for his teachings, particularly to young people, about the importance of loving, caring and sharing with one another. He often shared those teachings when he greeted canoe families at Swinomish during the annual Canoe Journey.

It is with much respect to our elders and ancestors that we share this treasured teaching with our families at the 2011 Tribal Journeys.

It is my honor to welcome you all to the homelands of my ancestors, and on behalf of my People, we offer our hospitality and kindness. Enjoy your time with the Swinomish People, and please be safe on your journeys.

Brian Cladoosby

Brian Cladoosby Chairman, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community


_̂

7/17

Campbell River7/11

Sliammon7/13

Sechelt 7/17

Gibsons7/18 Squamish

7/19

Tsawwassen 7/20

Birch Bay Nooksack7/21

Lummi 7/22 7/23

Tulalip7/23

SquaxinIsland Nisqually

7/18

Puyallup7/19

Muckleshoot7/20

Suquamish 7/21 7/22

Port Gamble S'Klallam7/20

Skokomish7/18

PortTownsend7/19

JamestownS'Klallam

7/18

Lower Elwha7/17

Esquimalt7/16

Tsawout7/20 7/21

Tsartlip 7/19

CowichanBay 7/18

Samish 7/24

Swinomish7/25

Makah 7/15

Waatch Point 7/14

Pillar Point7/16

Quileute 7/13

Hoh River 7/12

Queets 7/11

Quinault

BeecherBay 7/16

T'Sou-ke7/15

Pacheedaht7/14

Ditidaht7/12 7/13

Huu-ay-aht7/11

Shell Beach 7/16 7/17

NanaimoTown 7/15

NanooseBay 7/14

Bella Coola

Eucott BayHot Springs 6/29

Rattenbury7/1

Bella Bella7/2

Koeye7/3

Clam Beach7/4

Takush7/5

Fort Rupert 7/6

Alert Bay 7/7

Adams River 7/8

Comox7/12

QualicumBay 7/13

BelfairState Park

WhitneyPoint

7/19

Kelsey Bay 7/9

Browns Bay7/10

Ucluelet 7/10

Ahousaht7/9

Hesquiaht7/8

Yuquot 7/7

Ehattesaht

Mowachaht/Muchalaht

Ka:'yu:'k't'h/Che:k:tles7et'h'

Nuchatlaht

GoreIsland

KleepteeCreek

Opitsaht7/10 (lunch)

ToquartUchucklesaht

Hupacasath

Tseshaht

Songhes

Mckenzie Rock6/30

FridayHarbor7/22 Odlin Park

7/23

Cama Beach7/24

:0 50 10025 Miles

*Dates shown are scheduled arrival dates, which are subject to change during the canoe journey fora variety of reasons. Do not rely on this map as an accurate itinerary.This map is a guide to the routes that may be travelled. All dates and routes are subject to change.Landings may be added and others may be skipped. Many nations and people are participating inthis event that celebrates our people and our culture. We could not show them all on this map;however we wish to acknowledge the many nations and people that have contributed to its creation.

0 50 10025 KilometersThanks to Elissa Fjellman, Eric Day, Tim Leach, Ann Stark, and Tom Curley,for help in creating this map.

Eric Haskins, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, July 6, 2011

This map was prepared with ArcGIS 9.3.1 GIS software, produced by ESRI

_̂

Samish7/24

Swinomish7/25

North SoftLanding

South SoftLanding §̈¦5

Exit 230

CamaBeach

7/24

20

20ReservationRoadÂ

532Exit212

Paddle to Swinomish 2011Scheduled Arrival Dates*"Loving, Caring, and Sharing Together"

www.PaddleToSwinomish.com


Schedule

The following schedule shows the order that tribes will appear in ceremonies the tribes call protocols. During the protocols, each tribe tells the “story” of its culture and history in word, song and dance. Some of the ceremonies are considered sacred to participants and are seldom shared with the public.

Monday, July 25 - 3 p.m. Canoes begin landing at Swadabs Park.Welcome ceremonies by Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.

Tuesday, July 26 - 10 a.m. Alaska tribes begin Protocols in tent,Swinomish Village

Wednesday, July 27 - 10 a.m. Vancouver Island tribes begin Protocols in tent, Swinomish Village

Thursday, July 28 - 10 a.m.Vancouver City tribes begin Protocols in tent, Swinomish Village

Friday, July 29 - 10 a.m.Warm Springs, Ore., begin Protocols in tent, Swinomish Village

Saturday, July 30 - 10 a.m.Peninsula tribes begin Protocols in tent, Swinomish Village

Sunday, July 31 - 10 a.m. Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Protocols and PotlatchSchedule is tentative because it depends on protocol lengths.

MealsFree meals will be served each day in the dining tent.Breakfast: Tuesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.Daily dinner: Elders, 4 p.m.; Everyone else, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Aurelia Washington, Canoe Journey Coordinator, tries on a partially-finished dress that Swinomish girls and

women will wear during the Tribe’s protocol. Swinomish boys and men performing in the protocol will wear vests

with the paddles and salmon crest.


Swәdәbš ParkWhen thousands of people arrive here for the

2011 Canoe Journey, Paddle to Swinomish, it will be the largest event that’s ever happened in theLa Conner area.

Weeklong festivities begin July 25 on the shores of Swadabs Park, where about 130 canoes will land. Swәdәbš is the name for the Swinomish Tribe in the Lushootseed language.

The park has undergone a transformation that will leave a lasting legacy for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and the entire region.

A cement walkway now meanders to the Swinomish waterfront. Along the way panels of text and photos tell the history of the Swinomish People. On either side of the walkway native trees and plants are planted.

Three Coast Salish Cedar Pavilions are the centerpieces of Swadabs Park. They will shelter elders and dignitaries during Canoe Journey arrivals and ensuing welcoming ceremonies.

Afterward, these landmarks will be used for tribal and family celebrations and by visitors who will be welcome to stop in kayaks, canoes and other non-motorized watercraft.

Visitors may wonder about a large circle of sweet-scented wild roses planted on a rise in the park. The area was planted in these prickly, guardian plants to discourage people from walking on a sacred place where human remains have been found.

Aurelia Washington, Canoe Journey Coordinator, said her great, great, grandmother Mary Sampson Willup was among those known to have lived at the site.

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Canoes showcase expert seamanshipFamilies are paddling from as far away as

Alaska to join friends and relatives for the 22nd annual inter-tribal Canoe Journey gathering.

The Alaskans left weeks ago to travel the open waters along Canada and U.S. coastlines. Tribes from western coasts of Canada, Oregon and California also will converge at Swinomish.

This is the first year Swinomish Indian Tribal Community is hosting the event that re-connects past cultural traditions with the present. Among the approximately 130 canoes expected to land, three will hold Swinomish families.

Canoes will begin arriving at the newly refurbished Swadabs Park landing at about 3 p.m. Monday, July 25.

In preparation for landings in the strong currents of the Swinomish Channel, several canoe families recently held


a practice run to check out the new landing site.Skippers waited for a full, fast tide to put their canoes into the water at the public dock under the Rainbow Bridge on the

La Conner side of the channel.The canoes moved swiftly along the channel and each skillfully nosed into shore, lining up like vehicles in a parking lot

marked by invisible lines.Tradition holds that each canoe family stays aboard their craft with the paddles raised until they are invited ashore.

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At the practice landing, Skipper Raymond Hillaire, Sr. stood amid paddles raised respectfully out of the water. “We are the Lummi people,” he said. “We ask permission to come ashore, to eat and to rest.”

Swinomish Senator Kevin Paul was among dignitaries who invited the visitors to the tribal community center to share food, music and dancing.

People on both sides of the Swinomish Channel have wondered about landing 130 canoes efficiently at Swadabs Park, but the trial run showed how old traditional ways are a guiding compass.

Eric Day, a Skipper and coordinator of canoe families for Swinomish, is grateful the Canoe Journey also serves a contemporary purpose. In cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, some canoes are fitted with special probes to measure water temperature, turbidity, oxygen and acidity levels.

“We want to educate people about the reality the Puget Sound isn’t as healthy as they think it is,” Day said.


Authentic hats on a grand scaleThree massive Coast Salish

Cedar Hats punctuating the skyline attract everyone’s attention on both sides of the Swinomish Channel.

The focal points of Swadabs Park, the three pavilions were designed by Native American architects to sit atop a newly restored bank of sand that rims Swadabs Beach. And they are modeled after an actual hat created for Tribal Chairman Brian Cladoosby.

Each pavilion is 30 feet tall and 60 feet in diameter. Each will seat 250 people.

Dignitaries and elders will sit in the pavilions during Canoe Journey arrivals and welcome ceremonies July 25.

Afterward, the pavilions will serve the Tribe and neighboring community as central gathering places for decades to come.

At the southernmost pavilion four totems are installed. They were carved by Al Charles of the Elwha People. The metal support poles are sheathed in cedar, reminiscent of a longhouse.

The design for the pavilions was inspired by a cedar hat that Canoe Journey Coordinator Aurelia Washington wove.

Washington was excited to see the pavilions take shape. “They are a rendition of my hat, but large ones” she said.

The shingles are arranged to copy the woven look of cedar and each hat is banded with a decorative ring bearing the canoe design Washington wove into the hat she made.

Washington is someone who has worn “many hats.” An experienced weaver, she served as director of gaming at the Silver Reef Casino in Bellingham for three years before taking the job with the Swinomish. As Canoe Journey Coordinator, she fulfills a myriad of roles.

How does one prepare for a one-of-a-kind job? “I think I’ve always been training for this,” she says.

“My grandparents taught me to honor the culture every day of my life.”


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Ancient dances with young feetThree days a week Swinomish youth practiced to perfect the

traditional dances they will perform during ceremonies called protocols.

“We’ve seen a lot of change in them, a lot of self-pride. I think it will be even stronger when they are in full gear,” Aurelia Washington, Canoe Journey Coordinator, said during a recent rehearsal and community dinner.

Over the course of the Canoe Journey preparations, the number of young dancers swelled to about 80.

They moved in ancient symbolic movement to pulsating drums. They swam like salmon, swooped like eagles and pranced like ravens. There are healing songs and sacred songs.

Dancers wear colorful regalia as they move to the beat of the drums – the dancers’ exteriors matching ancient stirring in their hearts.

A team of volunteers led by Shirley Sampson and Serena Jones created their outfits in a design that captures the spirit of canoe travel. Girls and women wear dresses, while boys and men wear vests with rows of dangling

paddles that will sway and click as they move through the air.Meals were served on practice nights, which brought together all the people involved in protocols. “It’s good to get together for something positive,” Washington said, “before we only came together for funerals.” Naturally, older tribal members are thrilled to see their traditions carried into the future. “Thanks for what you are doing,” Tony Cladoosby told the youngsters. “After this year, it will be up to you and your friends

to represent the tribe in future.”To the participants, protocols are the most important part of Canoe Journey.“The canoe journey brings back our culture, language and songs, which represent the whole Coast Salish nation. You are

doing a great job representing who we are as a people,” Cladoosby said to the youngsters.

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A Sacred ResponsibilityOne definition of Swinomish is “People by the water,” which is reflected in their

dedication to their role as stewards of the Salish Sea.“We are gatherers and fisher folks,” said Shelly Vendiola, Facilitator for the Canoe

Journey Protect Mother Earth Task Force. “It is our responsibility to take care of what we subsist on. When we talk about the healing of the Canoe Journey we are always mindful of Mother Earth, of the water and the fish and the cedar. It’s about upholding the teaching of our ancestors.”

Visitors that could number as high as 32,000 are expected to generate a tremendous amount of waste through meals and beverages. The Protect Mother Earth Task Force will reduce the impact on the planet.

Protecting Mother Earth is a way of life, according to Elder Diane Vendiola, Advisor to the Task Force. “It is a sacred responsibility,” she said.

Swinomish has been on the cutting edge with climate change initiatives and habitat restoration efforts as well as solar power inclusion and adopting a program of waste reduction. Each year, Swinomish sponsors an Earth Day celebration, which draws in participants from the region for day of recycling, clean-up and education on being good stewards of the planet.

During Canoe Journey, the task force is working with Skagit County Zero-Waste Events, a county run program to facilitate recycling, composting and waste reduction at public and private events. There are 30 bins for separating recyclable and compostable refuse throughout Swadabs Park and volunteers are on hand to help people sort their trash.

For example, all the paper plates and dinnerware are biodegradable and will go into the composting bin, which will go to a composting facility that produces high quality soil for gardeners, landscapers and state agencies.

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Canoes. What image does that word conjure up for you? Summer camp from childhood? Old Hollywood Westerns

where Indians arrived or departed in elaborate canoes, a seeming artifact from yesteryear? Thousands will gain new perspective July 25 when 100 canoes land here for the 2011 Canoe Journey, Paddle to Swinomish. For millennia, Native carvers shaped massive logs into craft for transportation. They created both immense “family canoes,” capable of crossing the open waters of the Salish Sea, and shallow “shovel-nose” canoes that easily maneuvered the rivers leading into Western Washington’s interior. Canoes were the economic engines of Native society, carrying the ancestors of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to distant places from the San Juan Islands to Canada, or upriver to mountain country, to gather foods that sustained them: fin fish and shellfish, meat, plants and roots. As they traveled, their Lushootseed place names marked land features, a knowledge that guided canoe voyages and was passed from one generation to another. When non-native settlement began in the 1820s, their canoes took them farther still, to Hudson’s Bay Company trading posts at Fort Nisqually, near present-day Steilacoom, and Fort Langley on the Fraser River, where they traded salmon and hides for new goods: cloth, ammunition, buttons and “looking glasses.”

Most importantly, canoes linked family groups separated by marriage, reuniting kin particularly during spiritual ceremonies and potlatches held each winter in distant villages. These tools for transportation connected the essential parts of their lives. As settlers arrived in western Washington, Indians quickly realized that their canoes, and their canoe skills, were valuable commodities: the newcomers relied heavily on both. When Washington’s territorial capital was established in Olympia in 1853, mail and government correspondence reached far-flung settlements via the “express canoe,” powered by Indian paddlers.

Canoe JourneysBy Theresa L. TrebonSwinomish Indian Tribal Community Archivist

Across time, canoeshave carried the Coast Salish Culture forward into new waters

In times of illness or accident, settlers from Seattle to Whatcom turned to Whidbey Island’s Dr. John Kellogg, “the canoe doctor,” who “traveled up and down the Sound country, paddled by as many as six Indians in a dugout canoe.” Canoes were the lifeblood of the fledgling “Washington Superintendency,” the Federal agency that governed local Indian tribes after the 1855 Point Elliott Treaty, which established the Swinomish Reservation. Its officials regularly hired canoes, paddlers and Indian guides. An1869 receipt for canoe travel illustrates the money to be made: for a three-day trip from Lummi to Swinomish, up the Skagit River,

18 19

and back to Lummi, three Indians and their canoe were paid $13.33 ($220.00 in 2011 dollars). Innumerable diaries and letters reflect the pioneers’ dependence on Indian canoes. In 1863, Louise Swift of Coupeville wrote her mother that they attended the Utsaladdy Christmas ball thanks to hiring an Indian canoe and paddlers. As they made the two-hour voyage across Saratoga Passage, their ball gowns wrapped in sailcloth, Louise and her companion “sat down flat on the bottom with our limbs horizontal,” an unaccustomed experience for the newly arrived New Englander. The decades after “Treaty Time” brought less dependence upon Native canoes and Indians’ vast knowledge of local waterways. Steamboats became common on Puget Sound in the 1860s; by 1879, they were steaming past Sedro-Woolley thanks to the removal of mile-long log jams on the Skagit River. New roads soon bisected thick forests formerly judged impenetrable, allowing horses and wagons to move into the upper Skagit country. At the same time, Indians traveling by canoe to traditional fishing and hunting grounds diminished, a result of the federal government pressuring Indians to become farmers and assimilate into White society, along with restrictions on Indian treaty rights to procure food in traditional ways. By the late-1800s, Whites largely regarded Indian canoes as quaint symbols of a wilderness conquered — and a vanishing way of life.

Indian canoe travel evolved into a new form: canoe racing as entertainment. Although Natives were largely excluded from participating in White society, canoe racing came into vogue at communities around Puget Sound. One of the earliest was La Conner’s July Fourth commemoration in 1884 where canoe racing took place from 1-3 p.m., sandwiched between the morning and evening horse races. Six years later, 5,000 people flocked to Anacortes on July Fourth to witness the Indian canoe race on Guemes Channel. Town merchants soon realized the economic potential of this “exciting aquatic sport,” so much so that in 1904, Anacortes accused Bellingham of organizing a “bogus canoe race” to “entice” local Indians north so they would be unavailable to race at Anacortes. In 1929, Coupeville merchants took the annual summer races a step further as they hosted the first “International War Canoe Race.” The title belied the fact that Indians

20

never went to war in the sleek racing shells that sped across Penn Cove. The three-day festival drew tens of thousands of people—and their dollars—to Whidbey Island throughout the Depression years. Coupeville’s success with the canoe festival prompted La Conner to follow suit. The success of the 1938 “La Conner Indian Festival” prompted the editor of Coupeville’s newspaper to accuse La Conner of trying to “steal” Coupeville’s Water Fest. In response, the La Conner editor replied, “Of course this is untrue but in passing we might say that La Conner is easier to reach, has a fine Channel in which to hold the war canoe races and is the home of the Swinomish reservation. Coupeville has only one Indian family living there, it is off the beaten track and visitors are not afforded a very good view of the races as they are held too far out in the bay. But all this is beside the point.” For those in Indian Country, the invitation to race canoes in non-native communities meant other things entirely. Prize money was a powerful draw, but so, too, was the opportunity to publicly gather with other tribes in a cultural celebration. The 1884 race at La Conner occurred the same year that a Federal law passed, one strictly prohibiting Indians from practicing their traditional spiritual and cultural ways. Indians who did not comply faced criminal prosecution.

The rise of canoe racing coincided with implementation of those draconian measures and enabled Natives to circumnavigate some of the law’s prohibitions. Canoe racing provided a critical cultural link to the future when their traditional cultural practices would be allowed to resurface. In the late 1900s, those races evolved in a new direction at Swinomish with the start of “Canoe Club,” an avenue for youth to learn and reclaim their traditional ties to water through athletic competition. In the words of coach Brian Porter, racing helps tribal youth by “integrating our culture into our daily lives.” Observance of the Washington State Centennial in 1989 brought a unique opportunity for cultural revival. After countless tribal meetings and discussions about how Indian communities could meaningfully participate in centennial festivities, (a difficult task as statehood represented all they had lost), they settled on the Native American Canoe Project, an effort to “perpetuate the nearly lost art of cedar canoe carving.” New traditional family canoes were carved and

on July 21, 1989, 17 tribes, including Swinomish, made the historic “Paddle to Seattle.” But the Paddle was about more than just canoe carving. Quinault tribal elder, Emmett Oliver, who proposed, and coordinated the Canoe Project, felt strongly that reconnecting Native communities to canoe travel could lead to a restoration of their cultural identities. Oliver recognized how much had been lost in the twentieth century due to federal policies such as sending Indian children to boarding schools such as the one at Tulalip. Those policies crippled the ability of tribes to pass teachings from one generation to the next in areas from canoe carving to speaking Lushootseed. Though Oliver worried whether or not “a subdued culture can be revived if it has reached a certain point of decline,” he felt that canoe travel offered “an unprecedented opportunity to rediscover our heritage.” For indigenous communities throughout the Salish Sea region, and far beyond as well, Canoe Journey has brought that promise to life. Here, once again, as it did for thousands of years, the Swinomish Channel will carry scores of canoes to Swinomish. Once again, the village’s shores will ring with vibrant Native song and ceremony brought to life as relations, friends, and newcomers are warmly welcomed.Images provided by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community Archive and the Skagit County Historical Museum. 21

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Spirituality over the centuries

Indian Shaker ChurchThe Indian Shaker Church built this year at Swinomish has breathed new live in to a

historic Pacific Northwest Native American religion.Before the new church opened, attendance at Shaker services had dwindled to just a

handful of seniors in the old church, a white clapboard structure several miles from the village on Reservation Road. The old church, built in 1929, had fallen into such a state of disrepair the kitchen and dining room had to be condemned.

Last year construction began on the new church – something the congregation had spent decades praying for. In the spring, the new church opened on Tallawhalt Lane. The structure is bright and airy and has room for Shakers from throughout the Northwest to gather for prayers and meals.

Swinomish Village is home to three historic religious congregations which aren’t necessarily exclusive. Several TribalCommunity members participate regularly in the Catholic and Shaker churches and belong to the Smokehouse.

SmokehouseThe Swinomish smokehouse, built in 1991, has design features to allow traditional open

fires inside without compromising air quality for the safety of the occupants. In the winter months Coast Salish in Washington and British Columbia hold ceremonial

activities and private spiritual teachings in their smokehouses. For La Conner residents, the rhythmic drumming heard coming from the smokehouse is a sound of winter.

Tribal members typically keep their ancestral spiritual practices to themselves. That is because Native Americans used to be subject to religious persecution; their ceremonies were outlawed by the federal government for more than a century.

For Coast Salish people, the winter gatherings which bring together visitors from other tribes throughout the region have been a crucial part of life for time immemorial.

Saint Paul’s Catholic ChurchSaint Paul’s Catholic Church, founded in 1867, is one of the oldest churches

in the Skagit Valley. It is the only Catholic Church in the world that incorporates Lushootseed, the

native language of the Coast Salish people, into the Mass. The church is also home to the only icon of the Virgin Mary with Native

American features, “Mother of God of Lasting Things” by iconographer Mary Katsilometes.

The image is on wood and depicts the Blessed Mother as a young, barefoot Coast Salish woman, in early Native American clothing, holding her child.

Saint Paul’s is unique in that it has taken up the work the Catholic Church calls enculturation – being fully Catholic and fully native. The parish is made up of Native Americans and non-natives, who come together to worship every Sunday in the historic church.

(360) 466-4468 (Ext.109)

Minister Joe McCoy heads the Swinomish congregation.

The Indian Shaker movement began in the 1880s with John Slocum, a Coast Salish holy man, and the religion spread throughout the northwest.

It was incorporated as the Indian Shaker Church of Washington in 1910.


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We know the event will be blessed with many special guests and stories and live long in the hearts of those who attend as well as their descen-dents. We are very proud to call the people of the Swinomish Tribe our friends and neighbors.

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Loving memories bless canoe landingBefore the cedar hat pavilions graced the Swinomish shore, the landing spot held special

memories for tribal members, especially Barbara James who is Youth Center Program Coordinator for the Swinomish Tribal Community.

James, who also serves as a member of the Swinomish Indian Senate, looks out her office window at Swadabs Park and can recall some of her earliest childhood memories on that same land.

When she was a child, during one memorable year in the 1950’s, James lived in a float house on the spot where about 130 Coast Salish family canoes will come ashore.

“The thing about living there was we got to walk the beach” she says. She fondly remembers that she celebrated her sixth birthday when they lived in the float house.

They built a big bonfire on the beach and her cousins and friends came and played. “I cried when my father gave me birthday spankings so after that no one else would spank me,” she said.

The tiny float house had a kitchen with a table where the family shared meals and a bedroom area. It had a platform all around it and lots of windows. The house was anchored into the sandy beach but would rise and fall with the tide.

James remembers family meals around the little table. “It was like a special dinner every night,” she said.

A plank connected the house to the shore. The family car was parked on high ground at the foot of the Morris Street Bridge, the old trestle bridge that connected La Conner to Swinomish in those days. Her family walked from their car down the beach and across the plank to their float house.

James’s life changed when her family moved to Mount Vernon, when she was still young.She married Bruce James in 1971 and came home to Swinomish, where she has been serving her community for years. She began

working for the tribal government in 1976 and was later elected to the Swinomish Tribal Senate, a post she still holds today. “My heart, my life and my family are here” she says with a warm smile.

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Sandy, Cindy:

Can we PLEASE add the notice below into your publication somewhere: preferably near the historical piece?

Thanks!Theresa

Paddling Across Time A Look Back at

Swinomish Canoe History

While at Swinomish for the 2011 Canoe Journey, you are invited to visit a special exhibit of

Swinomish canoe history on display in the Social Services Building. Come explore the Tribe’s

historic and contemporary ties to the canoe and how it connected the essential parts of tribal life.

Daily 1:00 to 5:00 P. M.Social Services Building

Main Floor

PADDLING ACROSS TIMEA Look Back at

Swinomish Canoe HistoryWhile at Swinomish for the 2011 Canoe Journey, you are invited to visit a special exhibit of Swinomish

canoe history on display in theSocial Services Building.

Come explore the Tribe’s historic and contemporary ties to the canoe and how it connected the essential

parts of tribal life.Daily 1:00 to 5:00 PM

Social Services Bldg. • Main Floor


Featuring the Museum’scollection of Native baskets,

stone tools, and canoes

July 22 toSeptember 4, 2011

NativeJourney

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Historic park at heart of gatheringThe John K. Bob Ballpark springs to life as the main

hub for Canoe Journey activities.The massive tent where ceremonies called protocols

are performed takes center stage, while the dining tent and support facilities rim the edge of the field.

The memorial ball park is named for Bob, a World War II Army medic who was killed in 1944 while aiding a wounded soldier who was under fire.

Veterans, friends and families honored fallen heroes of all wars during recent ceremonies recognizing the work done to refurbish the entrance to the ball park.

The park was first dedicated in 1946. The metal arch from that era has been replaced with a sturdier version and a bronze plaque below was refinished. The plaque names Bob, Private Malvin Ross and

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Private Roy Knight, who also died in Europe during World War II. Repeating the dedication message of 1946, speakers reminded the ceremony’s attendees that the playfield

serves as a living memorial to remind future generations of the price paid for liberty and freedom.


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Swinomish Totem PoleThere has been a

61½- foot carved cedar totem pole at the heart of Swinomish Village since 1938, when well-known carver Charlie Edwards, who was in his 70s, led a crew that transformed a log into a representation of teachings and spirit that inspires families who live on the reservation.

The original totem, which stood until 1981, also reflected the world of the 1930s – it was topped with an eagle and a likeness of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose three terms in office oversaw initiatives that benefited tribes and programs such as the Works Project Administration, which had helped fund improvements to the community.

At the time, it was the largest totem pole in the known world, according to Chief Martin Sampson in The Swinomish Totem Pole-Tribal Legends, as told to Rosalie M. Whitney published in 1938.

The original pole was refurbished in 1962, but by 1981 it had to be taken down. Today the carved images from the original pole have been restored and are on display on the wall inside the Swinomish Social Services building, where they can be seen today.

As the original pole was taken down, work began to replace it. The pole standing today in the heart of the village was carved by the Paul family woodworkers.

The “new” village pole was finished in 1989. Tribal Senator Kevin Paul said his late uncle, Michael Paul, carved the replica pole with help from Kevin’s father, brother, and another uncle. “I helped paint it,” Kevin said. A well known artist, Kevin carries on his family carving tradition.

The replacement pole was dedicated by former chairman, the late Robert Joe, who said: “This pole is sacred and will serve to protect Swinomish youth.”

The original carvings from the first pole are on display in the Swinomish social services building on Reservation Road.


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Historic La Conner: A blend of cultures

Located on the Swinomish Channel near the mouth of the Skagit River, La Conner is a 19th Century waterfront town and Skagit County’s oldest community. Home to Coast Salish people from time immemorial, the first non-native settlers arrived here in 1863.

Originally called Swinomish, the town was deeded in 1869 to John Conner, who in 1870 changed the town’s name to La Conner to honor his wife, Louisa Ann Conner.

Today the Swinomish Tribal Community is on Fidalgo Island on the west side of Swinomish Channel, and La Conner is on the mainland on the east side of the channel. The two waterfront communities are connected by the Rainbow Bridge, which is an icon in the town.

In the 1800s, the most popular mode of travel in the region was by canoe as the Skagit River delta was a marshland. Early settlers erected dikes to stop tidal flooding and tame the river, turning the area into some of the richest farmland on the planet.

La Conner became a hub of commerce with ships and barges on the Swinomish Channel carrying passengers and freight out to Skagit Bay and through the Puget Sound en route to and from Seattle or Bellingham.

By 1900, the town had a population of about 1,000 residents with farming, fishing and logging as its main operations. Today farming and fishing continue to be important on both sides of the channel, though since the 1940s La Conner has become known also for its population of artists and writers.

La Conner’s well-known art and literary community, its quaint 19th Century architecture, the acres of tulips that bloom every spring, the nearby farms and dairies and the town’s scenic working waterfront with tugs pulling log barges and traditional Coast Salish canoes still navigating the channel have made this an attractive tourist destination.

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La Conner at First and Morris streets more than a centry ago.The businesses today are Nasty Jack’s, Go Outside and Ruby Sue’s Tea.


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Anacortes Chamber of Commerce ..........................28Calico Cupboard.................... 28Caravan Gallery.....................26Conway Pub & Eatery...............9Crescent Moon Yoga...............25EarthenWorks........................26El Gitano................................28Fairy Godmother’s Unlimited............................12Farmhouse Restaurant...........33Hampton Inn & Suites............27Holiday Inn Express...............13Hotel Planter..........................26La Conner Chamber of Commerce...........................12La Conner Country Inn & Channel Lodge....................33La Conner Drug......................25La Conner Fruit & Produce Market...................16La Conner Pub & Eatery.........22La Conner Retirement Inn...................24La Conner Seafood & Prime Rib House.................33La Conner Thai Garden ...........8La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum...................10Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce.......13Museum of Northwest Art.....15

Nasty Jack’s Antiques............25Nell Thorn Restaurant............16Pioneer Market........................9Port of Skagit........................22Potlatch Resort......................23Randy’s Pier 61......................14Rexville Grocery.....................10Salish Sea Gallery....................8Seeds Bistro & Bar.................26Shelter Bay Community.................24 & 26 Shorebird Properties..............31Silver Reef Casino.................17Skagit County Historical Museum..............26Skagit Valley College..............12Squaxin Island Tribe..............35Swinomish Casino......Back pageSwinomish Chevron...............32The Artist’s Remarque............16The Corner Trading Co. .........24The Next Chapter Bookstore............................14The Norse Pantry....................24The Scone Lady........................8The Trading Post....................30The Wild Iris..........................31Thousand Trails.......................9Town of La Conner...................4Tulalip Resort Casino.............. 2Wags & Rags..........................33


“Loving, caring and sharing together”

Tee-Sa-LukChester Cayou, Sr.1922-2010

The Canoe Journey theme, “Loving, Caring and Sharing Together” was a favorite saying of the much loved Chester Cayou, Sr., whose memory is a bright spot in the hearts of people on both sides of the Swinomish Channel.

canoe journey 2011

Documents

swinomish villagela

conner history

swinomish indian senate

swinomish channel

canoe journey history

canoe journey paddle

robin carneen of swinomish

swinomish totem pole