Paddle to Nisqually 2016

The anticipation mounted for 2 years.  The tribe worked and planned and worried.  The council fretted and the individual departments all sacrificed.

2016 dawned and the meetings started in earnest.  Every department head gave plans of operations. As the dates got closer those department heads were in almost daily meetings.  For our department that meant gearing up for 12 plus hour work days.

My first interaction with the journey was hearing the participants talking on the marine VHF radios.  I was monitoring the Gweduc harvest off McNeil Island when I heard some canoes and support boats saying they were coming through the passage by us.  This was a wise choice as the current was running almost 5 knots in toward Puget marina.   As they came by my vessel and our harvest boats they saluted “paddles up” and we exchanged greetings and well wishes and welcomed them to the south sound.

Entering Balch passage

Paddles up

The official start of the south sound phase came on July 30.  My partner and I were on the water at 0530 hours, he in an open river sled and I in our Whaler.  We met the canoes at Puget Marina and ferried paddlers to their canoes which had been rafted up to boats and barges anchored off the marina.  Paddlers started pulling for the soft landing at Burfoot park.

En-route we saw a school of Dalls Porpoise off Johnson Point. What a great blessing to get to see these magnificent creatures.  They played around my boat for a bit and then I had to move out to catch up with the lead canoes. Upon arrival at Burfoot there were boxed lunches for the paddlers.  What an amazing sight to have a mile of canoes lined up side by side on the beach.  I was told that there were 93 canoes attending the journey and it certainly looked like it.

I was tasked with multiple jobs, running a support vessel, and taking aerial videos from our drone.  What an impressive sight from the air to see all those canoes and families on shore.

After a rest for the paddlers and a staffing change (had to get Governor Inslee an official paddle shirt and get him in the Nisqually Warriors canoe.  This is the second time he has manned our warrior canoe (the first time was the paddle to Squaxin).  The canoes were off for the Port of Olympia where a very large crowd was waiting to welcome them to the shore.

Landing protocol is always a long process, made longer by 80 degrees weather and no shade.  We (along with Thurston County deputies and port staff) spent a very busy afternoon getting water and drinks to the canoes who were slowly melting under the harsh sun. We only had to evacuate a few people due to heat injuries.

My day ended at about 11 pm.  A very tired BFD hit the sack and got back up at 0400 to make my way to the land protocol site by 6 am.  We had been loaned a command post vehicle by Puyallup Tribal PD where we were able to base our operations and it was a great home base for the week.

Each day we would be at the site around 6 am and then around 10 am the protocol singing and dancing began.  The protocol would then proceed non stop until 2 or 3 am.  If you have never been to a canoe journey it is quite the experience.  Each family with a canoe requests permission to enter the land, they dance and sing in and then proceed to sing and dance with their traditional songs and dances.  They then give gifts to the welcoming tribe who then give gifts and welcome them.  The entering family then gives gifts throughout the crowd.  This giving and gifting is a very serious part of the protocol ceremony and is conducted in an almost ritual manner.

The vendors area was pretty comprehensive with everything from official hosting clothing to woven cedar hats and other hand made traditional items.  The food vendors had everything from an espresso stand to Polynesian food and of course, the required fry bread and Indian taco makers.  If you’ve never had fry bread, it is a very simple dough fried and puffed in a pan of oil.  You then either load it up with taco items (Indian taco) or slather it in butter and your choice of honey or local jam/jelly (my favorite in Washington is huckleberry).  This is a treat I only allow myself a couple times a year and as simple as it is, it is my favorite native food anywhere in the west.

Breakfast and dinner was provided by the Tribe and served by trustees from our corrections facility under the watchful eye of the cooks and our staff.  The elders were provided with an air conditioned tent where they could eat and get in out of the heat.  There were hydration stations all over the area for people to get water and cool off with.  The staff from all departments in the tribe were on hand to do whatever needed attention….driving shuttle carts, picking up trash, answering questions about the festivities.  You name it and I saw them doing it.  The ex chair of our council was driving folks around in a golf cart, the head of the planning department was picking up trash, the CEO was everywhere greeting people and answering questions.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYDIJSEVTxQ[/embedyt]

By the time August 7th rolled around, everyone was tired, dirty and baked by the sun, Visitors and tribal staff alike.  Many of our staff worked more than 12 hours a day (or night) and many worked over 10 days straight.  The protocol dancing and singing had been going on for 14 hours a day since Sunday.  It’s going to be interesting to see the final numbers on attendees and amounts of supplies used.

If you live near or are travelling near a place that a tribal event is taking place you should definitely find out if outsiders are allowed into the site and go.  Many tribes welcome outside visitors and enjoy sharing their heritage and culture.

I know I’m definitely looking forward to my next encounter with fry bread!

See ya out there!

BFD