Louie

Today is our 35th anniversary, and we wanted to do something special. So we went to the "Paddle to Swinomish", the annual gathering of all the Native tribes around the Pacific Northwest. They paddle their canoes from their reservations to whichever tribe is hosting the event that year. This year it is at the Swinomish Reservation, across the channel from the little town of LaConner. The Tribe built a new park with shelters shaped like the traditional cedar woven hats.

We were there for the arrivals - this was the first canoe to arrive.

Then more and more started coming in. Each tribe chanted while they paddled, so you could hear them before you could see them.

Many members wore cedar hats, and some wore carved wooden masks.

 It had started to rain, and it just kept getting wetter and wetter! The landing site was a small island created on the shore, so that the current wouldn't interfere with the canoes trying to land.

 When they landed, they continued to sing their chants while being welcomed by the other tribes. 

 One of the cedar hats. I would have loved to get more photos of the hats, but it was way too wet, and we had to leave sooner than we wanted.

 The gathering will last over a week, and the tribes will have "protocol", or potlatch, which is when they present gifts to the other tribes and share with them. It has become a very important part of their heritage. They expected over 100 tribes to paddle, with thousands more attending, some from as far away as New Zealand! We were hoping to find our friends in the Snoqualmie Tribe, but nobody could point us in the right direction, so we were unable to find them.