In the summer of 1989, seventeen tribes from around Puget Sound and the Washington coast participated in the first Tribal Canoe Journey, known as the Paddle to Seattle. Part of the Washington State Centennial celebration, the journey celebrated Native maritime history, specifically the history of canoe travel across the region. Each canoe “family” started from their home and stopped at the homes of host tribes along the way, with the hosts joining the journey, until all the participants reached the final host destination for a celebration. The Paddle to Seattle revived interest in Indigenous maritime traditions and particularly in the construction and use of the sea-going canoes. After the next journey in 1993, the Tribal Canoe Journey became an annual event.

In 1993, the Heiltsuk First Nation people of British Columbia hosted the next celebration, called the Qatuwas Festival, at their tribal village of Bella Bella. An international gathering of maritime Indigenous nations of the Pacific Rim, the event was joined by more 30 canoes, some paddling hundreds of miles. Over three thousand people gathered for the multi-day cultural celebrations at Bella Bella.

Members of the S’Klallam tribe out of Port Gamble made a canoe journey of over 400 miles to participate with other boat-buliding tribes in the 1993 Qatuwas canoe festival at Bella Bella. This photo shows 19-year-old Meloday Fulton, in traditional dress, on the day the S'Klallam canoes left Port Gamble for the journey to Bella Bella. Fulton was a paddler in one of the canoes.

Caption information source: "Tribal canoes participating in the Paddle to Seattle arrive at Golden Gardens Park on July 21, 1989" by Jennifer Ott, HistoryLink.org Essay 20269
Caption information source: "Qatuwas Festival," Seattle Art Museum website, https://art.seattleartmuseum.org/objects/37604/qatuwas-festival
Caption information source: "Journey just begun." Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 14, 1993, p. 1.