THE TRIBAL CANOE JOURNEY IS COMING TO OLYMPIA
* Learn about the annual canoe journey
(whether or not you plan to volunteer)
* Learn how you can help in Evergreen’s
spring internship program & summer volunteer work
Presentation by Tribal Canoe Journey
Coordinator Debra Meisner,
and other Squaxin Island Tribe
host committee staff
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4
Longhouse Education and Cultural Center
The Evergreen State College
1:30-3:00 pm
POSTER by Bonnie Graft can be downloaded at http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/SquaxinPoster.pdf
VIDEO for background (5 min.) at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkFGFr4KZCk
This summer, about 100 large tribal canoes will Paddle to Squaxin from the coasts of Washington, British Columbia, and other Pacific Rim regions. Every year, canoe pullers travel hundreds of miles following the “highways” of the ancestors, and converge at a single Indigenous community. This year, canoe journey will be hosted by the Squaxin Island Tribe. The canoes will land at Olympia’s Swantown Marina, on Sunday, July 29, followed by seven days of potlatch protocol (presenting tribal dances and songs) at Little Creek Resort near Shelton. More than 12,000 people are expected to witness this beautiful example of cultural resurgence among tribal youth, which has grown since it began in 1989. Many local volunteers and interns will be needed for support.
Evergreen students still have a chance in spring quarter to intern in support of early tribal preparations for canoe journey, through Zoltan Grossman’s “Student-Originated Studies (SOS): Revitalizing Community”–description below. Our first meeting for all registered and prospective SOS students will be on Tuesday, April 3, (10:00 am-1:00 pm) in SEM 2 C3107. Squaxin island internship opportunities may include Green Team planning for recycling & composting, video & PR production, assembling educational kits and craftmaking kits, constructing a canoe shed, harvesting native plants for a traditional feast, and more.
SOS-Revitalizing Community is coordinated with the Center for Community Based Learning and Action (CCBLA). Other faculty will also be sponsoring students through their spring or summer programs. Students need to be part of such a program, oriented on cultural respect and coordinated via faculty with the Tribe, in order to participate in spring quarter. You can get an SOS schedule and information on how to register by contacting grossmaz@evergreen.edu or (360) 867-6153, and downloading the handout at http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/HandoutCanoeJourney.pdf
For background on the Tribal Canoe Journey see http://www.PaddletoSquaxin2012.org (including summer volunteer info) and a 5-min. background video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkFGFr4KZCk For background on Squaxin Island Tribe history, visit the tribal museum in Kamilche and its website at http://squaxinislandmuseum.org
The April 4 event is free and open to the public. Thanks for the support from the President’s Diversity Fund, Longhouse Education and Culture Center, Native Student Alliance, Center for Community-Based Learning and Action, and Evergreen programs SOS-Revitalizing Community, Native City, Defending Mother Earth, Museum or Mausoleum?, Drawing on Earth, and Re-Interpreting Liberation.