[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 28, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE 2009 TRIBAL CANOE JOURNEY

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                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 28, 2009

  Mr. INSLEE. Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to announce 
that this August, the Suquamish Tribe will be hosting the annual Tribal 
Canoe Journey from August 3 to August 9 at the town of Suquamish on 
Washington State's Kitsap Peninsula. Native Americans have lived on the 
shores of Puget Sound for thousands of years. Canoes carved from 
massive cedar logs were the traditional mode of transportation for 
Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest. In 1851, pioneers 
established the city of Seattle, named for Chief Sealth of the 
Suquamish and Duwamish Tribes, who helped non-native settlers survive 
their first years in the Northwest.
  As the United States expanded westward, the Suquamish and other 
Native American tribes struggled to preserve their culture. In 1855, 
the Suquamish tribe signed a treaty that ceded their ancestral lands--
including much of what is now my district--and moved to a reservation 
west of Seattle. In 1904, Old Man House village, the home of Chief 
Sealth, burned to the ground and was not rebuilt. For the first time in 
millennia, traditional canoes no longer plied the waters of Puget 
Sound.
  In 1989, the Suquamish tribe hosted the Paddle to Seattle, the first 
intertribal canoe journey in more than 100 years. During that journey, 
people from the Helitsuk Nation invited canoes to travel to their 
village in British Columbia. In 1993, twenty-eight canoes answered 
their challenge. Since then, canoe journeys have been held annually to 
celebrate the traditional Native American culture of the Northwest.
  I am pleased to announce that more than 100 cedar canoes from over 90 
Native American tribes are expected to make the voyage to Suquamish in 
August, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Paddle to Seattle. 
Canoes will land near the former site of Old Man House village, where 
visitors will receive a traditional welcome. The Suquamish Tribe 
expects more than 12,000 visitors and 5,000 campers to participate in 
the week-long cultural celebration.
  Native American tribes have long struggled to preserve their 
traditional culture. The 2009 Tribal Canoe Journey is part of a 
cultural resurgence among Native Americans in the Northwest, and I am 
honored to recognize its importance before Congress today.

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