By Erin Durrett
Drums in hand, we stand on the edge of the central tidepool at Point Robinson and watch a tiny speck afloat on the East Passage waters just off Redondo Beach. A great blue heron is fishing nearby, and we watch it take a bit of a fish just caught by two otters.
We look back. The tiny speck is a bit closer. We can just make out the flash of paddles in the water, so we are sure it’s them – the Blue Heron Canoe!
We start drumming as soon as we think the sound will travel across the water to them, and break into song to welcome them ashore: “Land you folks! Land you folks! Land you folks, the First People!”
They approach the shore head-on, then the canoe turns and circles past us, and we sing out, “Land you folks, the Blue Heron!”
The huge canoe with 11 paddlers aboard turns toward the shore again and comes to a standstill facing us just a few feet away. Glistening paddles are raised in unison. A young man stands in the back of the canoe and calls to us in Lushootseed, the local indigenous language, and, phrase by phrase, translates what he is saying into English. He gives us his name, his tribal affiliation, lets us know who the honored elder in the canoe is, and where they have come from. He asks our permission to come ashore.
We welcome the Blue Heron Canoe Family, saying we are honored that they have returned to their ancestral shores to join the Low Tide Celebration! Cheering, we wade into the water to steady the canoe as the first two paddlers step out. Slowly, we pull it forward so that the rest of the crew can step into the shallows. When all have disembarked, many hands are placed gently on the gunnel rail. The great wooden canoe is raised out of the water and brought high up on the cobbles, almost to the drift edge, where it will rest safely for the day.
In 2008, Mike Evans, the skipper of The Blue Heron Canoe Family gave us the song and taught us the canoe welcome ceremony. This was so that we of Vashon-Maury Island could be part of a tradition of welcoming that has been taking place in the Salish Sea region for thousands of years.
What a thrill it is to see that great canoe approach – so beautifully built, the Blue Heron painted on its prow, crowning it as a piece of art. It is such an honor to know we are ready to welcome them in a way that shows we are aware of the ancient traditions of our home waters, and know how to uphold them and show respect to those whose ancestors called these Islands home for millennia. We know the Blue Heron Canoe Family has paddled long and hard to come celebrate with us, and we are so happy to see them.
Once they are safely ashore, we are excited to give our hungry guests some of the great food our Island has to offer, courtesy of Iyad, his wife Safa, and their daughter Gulnar – dear friends who came to us from much further shores, but now call Vashon home. We enjoy lunch together and take time to visit. Then, the canoe family shares traditional dances and some fun new drumming songs we can use every day, like:
Didi swadubsh! (Tide comes in!)
Chut ub swadubsh! (Tide goes out!)
At the end of the day, when the tide has come back in and it is time for our friends to go, many hands gently pick up the canoe and return it to the water. The canoe family climbs aboard as we again hold the boat. Slowly, we push out the canoe, and, when all paddles are ready, release it. Ceremonial words of gratitude are called back and forth, with requests that the Blue Heron Canoe honor us again, as they have done now for many years, by returning to share, teach, and celebrate the creatures who live in these waters we travel upon.
We are truly blessed.
