Just after 7:00 on Saturday morning, about two dozen people were packing camping gear into three brightly painted dugout canoes in downtown Haines.
Read more UAF students urge Dunleavy to keep campus maintenance funding intact
They were rushing to begin a 90-mile journey to Juneau for Celebration, a cultural gathering for Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people that draws thousands every other year. The trip had already been delayed by a day.
“The earlier we can go, the better. I don’t know how long it’s going to stay nice, and we got 28 miles to go against the tide,” said Wayne Price Kaajis.yoodzi.áxk.
Price is a Tlingit master carver who grew up in Haines. He’s widely known for his work duplicating historic totem poles, designing and carving new ones, building seaworthy dugout canoes – and mentoring others to do the same.
Price would captain one of the three canoes, which he carved more than a decade ago.
“When you get tired, you’re going to find a deeper place to pull from,” he said. “We’re going to pull from there and keep pulling.”
After everyone loaded up their gear, they rolled the canoes down to the water on dollies. Price’s crew climbed in, adjusted the boat’s position and started paddling toward a nearby beach.
“Let’s go to Juneau!” Price shouted out as they navigated through Haines’ small boat harbor.
This year’s crew comes from all over. Of course, from Haines – or Deishu, the area’s Tlingit name — but also from the Carcross area, across the Canadian border, from Kodiak and even Arizona, said G̱ooch óx̱oo or Kevin Jones, of Juneau.
Read more Former Haines borough manager to challenge Rep. Andi Story for District 3 House seat
Jones is Choctaw and has worked with Price for the last decade. He will captain another of the canoes. He said he appreciates the inclusive nature of the Celebration.
“Celebration, of course, is a Tlingit, Tshimian and Haida thing,” he said.
“Yes, I’m adopted, but that’s an honor and a privilege. It doesn’t make me Tlingit,” he added. “But they’ve been so gracious in just opening up and letting me be a part of this.”
Jones said two of the three boats making the journey are traditional dugout canoes. The one he captained was made a little differently; he said it was “reverse engineered.” The bow and stern were carved from cedar, while the rest was made from long strips of spruce.
“The trees for these have to be like 500 years old, so few and far between,” he said, “We want to save the ones that are still out there for our future generations.”
The three canoes made their way to the beach in front of town and were greeted by a sacred fire – and a group that’s there to bless the fleet. Price got out of the boat and said this will be his seventh journey to Juneau.
“I’ve done this a few times,” he said. “But quite a few of us are on their first journey, and we want to hold them up to keep them strong.”
The goal that first day was to make it nearly 30 miles, working against the tide.
Read more Cleanups removed over 1.5 million pounds of trash from Alaska beaches last year, report says