Tribal canoe voyagers visit Langley

A long-standing traditional voyage of a number of West Coast indigenous tribal members passed through Langley for the first time ever this week.

The Blue Heron Canoe Family, a group composed of members from a number of Native American tribes, has been taking journeys along ancient pathways for more than three decades, according to the group’s website.

Led by Mike Evans, or Didahalqid, chair of the Snohomish Tribe and father of the Blue Heron Canoe, this year’s journey was known as “Tears of the Sea.”

Langley Councilmember Rhonda Salerno, who helped organize the event on Whidbey, called it “a celebration and an honoring of the ancestors of Whidbey Island.” Part of the yearly journey’s purpose is to teach the means and importance of preserving Coast Salish cultures.

The Blue Heron Canoe Family has taken many annual journeys over the years. This year’s expedition embarked July 7 from Edmonds City Park following two days of meeting and going over the events schedule. The group paddled to Whidbey Island, making stops in Clinton and Sandy Point, also known as Brown Point, before going on to Langley.

Salerno said that while they were at Sandy Point, the canoe family members stopped at the public access point to perform a ceremony and a blessing over the land, where a permanent Snohomish village once stood.

Upon arriving in Langley via Seawall Park, the canoe family was greeted by the shore crew and some members of the public. Salerno said the arrival was not heavily advertised because it was not meant to be a spectacle for tourists, but rather an opportunity to “have a community exchange and get to know one another.”

The group’s time in Langley was marked with special events. On Friday, the canoe family held a children’s event of storytelling, singing and dancing at the community center. Saturday night, the group will host an event known as “protocol” at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, a tradition that includes song, dance and the exchange of greetings and gifts, Salerno said.

The Blue Heron Canoe Family has been camping at the Whidbey fairgrounds and will leave for La Connor July 10, joined by a second canoe. The group members’ three-week journey will take them to Washington Park in Anacortes, through the San Juan Islands and up to the Lummi Reservation in Bellingham.

For Janice Hicks-Bullchild, also known as Yee-Ham, the annual canoe journey is a source of life and strength.

“I learn more and more about myself every year, because it’s a challenge,” she said. “You have to have a strong mind and strong heart and strong soul.”

Hicks-Bullchild, who is Chehalis and Nisqually, first became involved with the Blue Heron Canoe Family in 2016 because of her child, Ray Tarrach. While taking an anthropology class at Edmonds Community College, Tarrach had the opportunity to earn credit by participating in a canoe journey, and Hicks-Bullchild decided to get involved as well.

As a master weaver, one of her roles on the voyage is to teach introductory level basket and ornament weaving to students on the journey. She also assists the support vessel crew with various duties.

“I look forward to canoe journey every year,” she said, adding that throughout the journey, participants address arising challenges cohesively. “We do things as a family. We communicate.”