Tribal Journey Diaries - Part 10 – Riding the Waves into Puyallup

The last canoe count leaving the shores of Muckleshoot was 67, which could be anywhere between 3,000 to 5,000 people. An amazingly beautiful site to see them caress the ocean all around you.

We pulled for a couple of hours in the heat, as it beat down on us it took its toll. We ended up being towed for short leg of the pull by our Swinomish relatives, totally saved the day, as our youth are being pushed to their limits. Once we broke off from the support boat a big ship was passing by and gave us the chance to test our might as the large waves cast from its motors barreled at us.

Our kids pulled hard; we turned the canoe into the waves and we bounced over the top of each crest, shooting out of the water like a pop a wheelie. We took on the waves with strength and finesse and as we crested the final wave, we wished we could do it all over again! Pulling into the shores of Dash Point Park was unreal as we completed the last leg of the journey!!! After five hours in the agonizing heat we helped carry many other canoes on shore before giving way to the tiredness, the hard work of the day is done. We had a nice dinner and laid there in the middle of the night listening as other canoe families soothed our aches and pains away during their best and most heartfelt songs. We were sent to dreamland serenaded and surrounded by the heartbeat of the drum and sacred interconnectedness of our people, the lands and the ancestors. We are blessed.