Tribal Journey tests the mettle of Snuneymuxw

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Every Tribal Journey is a test and the test is never the same. This year it was the weather that tried the endurance, stamina, and courage of the paddlers from the West Coast of Canada and the United States. There were times in their week-long odyssey that the participants in the 28 canoes were cold, wet, hungry and in danger of their lives; but asked if he would do it again, Dave Mannix, skipper of the Snuneymuxw First Nation canoe, said, "In a heartbeat."

"It's the test. Three hundred people went out and three hundred came back. For most of the people there who don't believe in destiny, they do now. And it makes First Nations unique. One of the non-Natives who was there said to us, 'I'm impressed. You guys are hard core. This is the big league'."

But Tribal Journeys is more than a test of endurance. It is a journey of the soul - a trek back to a culture that only two generations ago was in danger of being lost.

Tribal Journeys began with the American Indian nations in 1993 as a way for young people to get back in touch with their traditions. One of the protocols of Tribal Journeys is "no drugs, no alcohol," but it goes farther. No one swears and no one has bad feelings. Elders teach the young ones about their culture and the young people learn the traditions of respect for the Elders.

The Snuneymuxw First Nation first participated in 1997. To the West Coast Native people, the canoe was once as important as the horse was to the Plains people. It was essential for hunting seals, sea lions, and whales, for fishing in the rivers, for carrying trade goods and supplies, and for travelling long distances. Today's ocean-going canoes are perfect replicas of those used centuries ago, measuring 30 to 32 feet long and just four to five feet wide.

Mannix and his crew of six paddlers set out from Makah on the northern tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State on Aug. 5 for the week-long trip in open ocean to Tahola some 120 miles down the coast. The weather was calm and co-operative until the last day of their journey as they left their host village at the Hoh reservation. Within hours, the dense Pacific fog settled in, the wind began to blow up and the waves rose. As the paddlers neared their landing place they could hear the pounding of the surf and knew it would be too dangerous to attempt to go to shore.

Mannix's and two other crews tied up to a support boat to await developments and boarded the boat. Then a wave swamped the Snuneymuxw canoe and it flipped upside down, pulling the support boat with it. Within seconds Mannix cut the lines and set his canoe adrift.

When they had seen the other two canoes safely to shore, Mannix and his crew headed back out into the wind and the waves to rescue their canoe.

At least three canoes capsized during that long day. But when every person was safely accounted for, the paddlers and all those who had waited and prayed for their safety held a cleansing ceremony and celebrated the trip.

"It was very emotional for their community and for our people," Mannix said.

This year's journey was Scott Marshall's fourth. Although the physical rigors were a test for him, what holds importance in his mind is the experience of the old culture and traditions.

"What really impressed me was the young people. It never ceases to amaze me how many songs they know and how they carry themselves. There's so much culture and it amazes me because I grew up off the reserve and I don't see that in Nanaimo so much. But each year as I paddle with Nanaimo I see it more."

White settlers tried to destroy the Native culture. For many years First Nations peoples have been rebuilding what was lost. Tribal Journeys is part of that rebuilding process.

"Our community changes by participating in this," Marshall said.

"No matter how hard this was, we would do it again just to see how our grandparents and our ancestors could be so strong in what they had to go through on a daily basis. It's a strength tht we don't necessarily grow up with today, but we have a chance to test it and experience it out there. That's really important to me."

Mannix hopes that in the future more of the Snuneymuxw youth participate in the Tribal Journeys.

"If they do they will see the pride in it - the pride of being who they are. And it brings great pride to all the host Nations to see who's coming back and all these people who have made the effort to bring the culture and tradition back and share it with them. They honor us and we honor them."