CKA looks to build on gains as new school year begins

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Chief Kitsap Academy students are now returning to school with the friendly faces of a familiar teaching staff, new take-home laptops, and a faculty and staff looking to build on a year of greater stability and significant academic gains.

For CKA Principal Lucy Dafoe, the progression is important. Last year was about healing and stabilizing the school while beginning to raise academic performance.

This year, she wants CKA to build on that foundation with higher expectations, stronger student engagement, and more opportunities beyond the classroom.

“We have all of our instructional staff coming back,” Dafoe said. “That’s a huge win.”

Looking back on last year, Dafoe gives CKA high marks for rebuilding stability among both students and staff.

“It was truly a year of healing,” she said. “That is all of us together.”

Academically, she said, great progress was made as well. And more work needs to be done. The percentage of CKA students meeting the standard in English Language Arts testing, for example, increased threefold to 56 percent last year.

“We probably did about three years’ worth of work in that one year to get there,” Dafoe said. “And that improvement will continue.”

Eight CKA students also qualified for Running Start and began earning college credits while still in high school, an accomplishment that fits into a larger strategy Dafoe wants to continue developing.

Building more pathways

Her long-term vision is for CKA to provide students with a strong academic and cultural home base, particularly in grades six through 10, while creating more pathways for older students to pursue college courses, career and technical education, internships, and other opportunities.

That includes Running Start and West Sound Technical Skills Center, along with efforts to develop more dual-credit opportunities that allow students to earn high school and college credit simultaneously.

CKA is continuing to work with the tribe’s 477 Workforce Program to help eligible students obtain driver’s licenses, making it easier for them to reach college classes, technical programs, jobs, and internships.

“We know transportation is a barrier for going to Running Start or West Sound or a job or an internship,” Dafoe said. “And we’re going to do more to help fix that.”

Another significant change this year will happen much closer to home.

Take-home laptops

Starting this year, every CKA student will receive their own Chromebook to use at school and take home. Previously, computers were assigned to classrooms and remained on campus, limiting students’ ability to use them for homework.

The new one-to-one devices come with some responsibility. Students will be expected to bring their Chromebook to school each day – charged and ready for the day.

That expectation reflects a broader theme for the coming year.

Dafoe wants students to become more active participants in their own education rather than waiting until the end of a grading period to catch up. CKA will continue emphasizing grades of C or better, providing after-school academic help and study opportunities, and asking parents to become involved early when students begin falling behind.

The goal, she said, isn’t simply better grades. It is helping students develop the habits and confidence that come from discovering what they can accomplish through consistent effort.

“When they’re putting forth the effort, they find out, ‘Wow, I’m really smart,’” Dafoe said.

CKA will also continue expanding place-based education, getting students outside traditional classrooms and connecting their studies with Suquamish lands, waters, culture, and community. College and career site visits will remain another

emphasis.

Belonging and responsibility

Alongside academics, Dafoe wants to continue strengthening the culture students experience on campus. CKA plans to emphasize anti-bullying efforts, healthy risk-taking, gratitude, and helping students become stronger self-starters and self-managers.

For Dafoe, those goals come together in two ideas: belonging and responsibility.

“I want them to come back and feel like they have a sense of belonging and a responsibility to our campus,” she said. “They need to know that they can achieve what they want to achieve.”

Last year showed what can happen when staff and students begin moving in the same direction. This year, she said, CKA staff are ready to ask more of their students — while making sure the opportunities and support are there for them to succeed.

“Our staff are going to lean in more,” Dafoe said. “And our students are going to see even more how much they are capable of.”

UW teaching students learn from Suquamish educators

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A good canoe skipper knows how to motivate their pullers. A great one knows it can take perseverance, humor, and sometimes even an offer of self-sacrifice.

Western Washington University Professor and Suquamish Canoe Skipper Nigel Lawrence offered that lesson to 70 aspiring teachers gathered inside the Chief Kitsap Academy Commons Aug. 11.

The students are part of the University of Washington’s Secondary Teacher Education Program and came to Suquamish as part of an Indigenous-led outing supporting their coursework in Indigenous Perspectives and Language & Literacy Revitalization. Through a partnership dating back to 2016, UW STEP students visit CKA and the Suquamish community to learn directly from tribal students, teachers, and cultural educators as they prepare to lead classrooms of their own.

For Lawrence, the lesson began with a canoe journey when his pullers were running out of energy.

“Have you all watched the movie where the mountain climber gets trapped in a canyon and he has to cut off his own arm to survive?” Lawrence asked, referencing 127 Hours, based on the true story of mountaineer Aron Ralston. “I told my pullers that if that guy could survive, they would too and — bonus — get to keep both arms,” Lawrence said with a laugh. “I thought that would motivate them!”

It worked, but only briefly.

Lawrence tried reminding the pullers that their ancestors had persevered to make their journey possible. When that boost also faded, he made them an offer.

“OK, if you all pull in unison 500 times, I’ll jump in the water.”

They pulled. They counted. They passed 500, then 1,000. They switched sides and did it again. Lawrence kept his promise, eventually jumping into the water four times.

The story carried a lesson for the future educators.

“Teachers, find what motivates your students,” Lawrence told them. “It might be different for every single one of them.”

Lawrence, who teaches Since Time Immemorial curriculum and focuses on culture and diversity in education, was one of several Suquamish educators, students, and community members who spent the day sharing perspectives with the UW cohort.

“Our goal is that every single teacher understands tribal sovereignty and our responsibility to uphold it,” said UW Indigenous Perspectives Professor Kwulasulwut Emma Elliott.

CKA Principal Lucy Dafoe said UW STEP has brought future educators to Suquamish in collaboration with CKA since 2016. Beyond providing future teachers firsthand experience with tribal education, the partnership can also introduce potential educators to CKA.

“Sometimes it even ends up being an avenue for recruitment of our teachers,” Dafoe said.

The UW STEP students received Lushootseed language lessons led by CKA teacher Brandy Boure and recent CKA graduate Elilai Abraham, Barbara Lawrence’s granddaughter. They also visited the Veterans Memorial, House of Awakened Culture, and Charles Lawrence Memorial Pole as part of a community tour led by Suquamish Elder and Since Time Immemorial Curriculum Specialist Barbara Lawrence — Nigel Lawrence’s mother.

At the memorial pole, Barbara Lawrence shared the story of her father, Charles Lawrence, giving the future teachers another family perspective on the themes of perseverance and humor her son had discussed earlier.

She told the group that her father and his brother returned from boarding school so malnourished that the military initially wouldn’t accept them.

“They were too scrawny when they came home from boarding school,” she said, pointing toward the nearby beach. “They went right down there and dug and ate clams until they had put on enough weight that the Army would take them.”

Charles Lawrence served in World War II and was wounded during the D-Day invasion on Omaha Beach. He subsequently contracted tuberculosis and spent time in a hospital, where he met the woman who would become his wife — a “redheaded, freckle-faced Norwegian woman” staying in another wing.

The two passed notes through library books and taught themselves sign language to communicate, Barbara Lawrence said. Eventually, her father finger spelled a marriage proposal — only to misspell it.

“My mom signed back, ‘Did you say marry me?’” she said. “And he told everyone who would listen that she had asked him to marry her.”

The lessons continued that afternoon when about a dozen CKA students and teachers came in during summer break for a question-and-answer panel with the future educators.

For the CKA students, culturally responsive teaching wasn’t an abstract educational concept. It was part of their own experience in the classroom.

“Going to CKA isn’t like public schools,” CKA Senior Corrina Sigo said. “Teachers here are open-minded. We get to do things that matter inour community.”

Sigo pointed to programs such as Ocean-to-Table and field trips to other reservations as some of her favorite parts of attending CKA.

The day ended with one more Lawrence family perspective.

Nigel Lawrence’s son, CKA Senior Dio Lawrence, offered the future teachers a piece of advice from the student side of the classroom.

“Uplift your students however you can,” Dio Lawrence said. “Do that and it will leave a lasting impact.”

Higher Education Program helps turn dreams into reality

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Kali Chargualaf ’s official title is Higher Education Program Manager. But a more descriptive title might be Facilitator of Dreams or even Fairy Godmother.

That’s because through the Suquamish Tribe’s Higher Education Program, Chargualaf helps tribal members pursue higher education degrees, certificates, and vocational-technical training programs.

Whether you’re interested in becoming an air traffic controller, a zoologist, or pursuing any other career path from A to Z, tribal members with a high school diploma or GED may be eligible to apply for financial assistance. And for those who do not yet have a GED, Chargualaf can connect them with programs and resources to help them earn one.

“The accomplishments of the Higher Education Program really come from the students themselves,” Chargualaf said. “Each year we’re seeing more students enroll in the program or return as they continue progressing toward new educational goals.”

Students can continue receiving support as they advance through multiple levels of higher education, from an associate degree to a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and even a doctorate.

In addition to providing educational funding and resources, the Higher Education Program oversees:

• High School Career Fair, connecting students to colleges, trade schools, and military services, now held every spring.

• Graduate Honoring to celebrate students’ achievements from high school and beyond,held every summer.

• Summer Youth Internship Program, in partnership with the Workforce Program (also known as 477 yusawiac) providing students with work experience across tribal government every summer. Applications will open in late spring 2027 for openings next year.

• The Higher Education Program also manages a Computer Lab where tribal members can work in a quiet space and utilize desktop computers, printers, and meeting spaces.

“The Computer Lab is a great place to help higher education students with their applications and essays, as well as a place where people can come to access online

trainings and certifications,” Chargualaf said. “And, if people need a little extra assistance with computers, I am here to help.”

In the four years Chargualaf has served in the Higher Education Program, she’s grown to see the job as a combination of being a mentor, cheerleader, strategist, and believer.

“I was a first-generation college student, and I understand the difficulties of navigating college,” she said. “I’m here to help tribal members pursue their educational goals and find programs that best fit their interests and needs.”

While the Higher Education Program may not turn pumpkins into carriages, what it does is even more impressive. It transforms lives through education, opens doors to new careers, and invests in the future of the Suquamish Tribe.

Higher Education Nuts & Bolts

Higher Education offers support services and funding to enrolled Suquamish tribal members who meet the eligibility requirements.

To apply, students must be enrolled in a program of study, attending an accredited institution of higher education such as technical colleges, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities. Funding depends on availability.

Application deadlines:

· Winter Quarter/Spring Semester: December 1

· Spring Quarter: February 1

· Summer Quarter: May 1

· Fall Quarter: July 1

The Computer Lab is located in the Old Tribal Center and is open Monday – Thursday from 8am to 4:30pm Questions? Contact Kali Chargualaf at HigherEd@Suquamish.nsn.us or (360) 394-1328.

Graduates honored for achievements, encouraged on journeys ahead

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The Suquamish Tribe celebrated 27 graduates and introduced a new tradition during the Class of 2026 Graduate Honoring at Kiana Lodge on July 8.

Among the evening’s highlights was the presentation of the first Paddle of Honors to Washington State University graduate Shyan Zaiss. Created to recognize a graduate who has gone above and beyond in academics, personal growth, and service to the community, the specially designed paddle was crafted by Suquamish tribal member Ian Lawrence and decorated by artist Brenda Solis.

Higher Education Program Manager Kali Chargualaf hosted the honoring, which recognized 21 high school graduates and six graduates from colleges and universities.

“Today marks not just the end of one chapter, but the exciting beginning of another,” Chargualaf told the graduates. “Your hard work, resilience, and dedication have brought you to this proud moment, and we are here to applaud and recognize everything you’ve accomplished.”

Rather than featuring a keynote speaker, this year’s program devoted more time to sharing each graduate’s achievements, future goals, dreams, and advice for others.

Each high school graduate received a canoe paddle handcrafted by Lawrence, a skipper with the Suquamish Canoe Family. Designed in the shape of an orca’s pectoral fin, the paddles were made for use on the water and symbolize the strength graduates will need to navigate challenges throughout their lives.

Higher education graduates were wrapped in Eighth Generation blankets. Cedar caps were made by Suquamish Tribal Elder Barbara Lawrence.

Paddle of Honors

Paddle of Honors recipient Shyan Zaiss earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a major in marketing from Washington State University. Chargualaf

praised her academic success, scholarship work, advocacy, kindness, and longstanding dedication to the Suquamish community.

“Shyan has continuously demonstrated her outstanding academic achievements, she is a true advocate and representative of our Suquamish people, she listens and communicates with kindness and respect,” Chargualaf said. “If you have known Shyan since she was young, then you know that her heart has always been in community,” Chargualaf said.

Zaiss was accepted into several honor societies and served as a Native Youth Grantmaker with Native Americans in Philanthropy’s 2026 cohort. Her success in securing outside scholarships also saved the Suquamish Tribe thousands of dollars in higher education funding.

“I could not have done this without my family and my community,” Zaiss said. “To all the other graduates, be proud of yourself, and never give up on yourself or your dreams.”

Made for the Journey: A Paddle’s Message to Graduates

Suquamish tribal member Ian Lawrence was paddling in a canoe before he could ride a bike.

Now a skipper of one of the Suquamish Tribe’s canoes, he also crafts many of the paddles used throughout the tribe.

Each of this year’s high school graduates received one of Lawrence’s paddles as a gift. Here is his message to them:

The design of these paddles is a traditional Suquamish design. The blade of the paddle is the shape of an orca’s pectoral fin. This shape is intended to be hydrodynamic, meaning that it works with the flow of the water and the design maximizes your energy.

These paddles are intended for you, on your journey. Life will present challenges and this paddle is designed to be strong enough to carry you through those tough times. We are not in control of what happens to us, only what we do about it. These paddles provide you with the degree to pull through it.

It is our teaching that paddles have their own spirit and to protect the paddle’s spirit we always hold it and store the paddle with the blade pointed up and the handle pointed down, unless we are in the water.

We are taught that the spirit drains out of the blade when it’s pointed down.

These paddles are ready for the saltwater and they are pretty enough to hang on your wall. However, we encourage you to use them!

Summer internships give Suquamish youth an early start in the workplace

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The interview worried Tataya Fontes-Lawrence the most. So much so that it almost kept her from applying to the Suquamish Tribe’s Summer Youth Internship Program.

As an eighth grader preparing to enter high school, she sat nervously before a panel of adults who asked questions about why she wanted to join the program.

“The interview was what made me terrified of even applying,” she recalled. Now in her second year with the program, you’d hardly guess she was ever afraid of anything.

For decades now, the Summer Youth Internship Program has helped young tribal members take their first steps into the workplace while exploring careers across tribal government. Many tribal employees working throughout the tribe today — in both government and its business enterprises — got their start as summer interns, including several current Tribal Council members.

This summer, 14 students are working across much of government.

Higher Education has again partnered with the 477 Workforce Program to combine paid work experience with weekly professional development sessions focused on résumé writing, practical skill building, and career exploration.

This year, the program is running from late June to early August. “We changed the dates to an earlier timeframe because last year our youth advocated for this,” said Higher Education Program Manager Kali Chargualaf. “Each year we have a pretty phenomenal group.”

 

Taking on challenges

Looking back now, as she works at the Tribal Administration front lobby preparing a new handout for Tribal Canoe Journey visitors, Fontes-Lawrence laughs at how nervous she was about her interview for the program.

“They were all so nice,” she said. “I was scared for nothing.”

Now preparing to enter her sophomore year at Kingston High School, Fontes-Lawrence is spending her second summer with the program.

After working at the Suquamish Museum last year, she wanted to challenge herself with something different. This year she is working in the Administration Department, answering phones, greeting visitors, assisting with projects and learning how the department supports the daily operations of tribal government.

Instead of staying at a single workstation, Fontes-Lawrence has spent the summer rotating among several members of the Administration team, giving her a broad look at how the department operates.

She has shadowed Tribal Council Executive Assistant Amanda Carper and Executive Assistants Rosie Bays and Cheayvone Swift.

“She’s been absolutely amazing,” said Swift. The arrangement has allowed Fontes-Lawrence to experience a wide range of administrative responsibilities. She has learned how staff manage schedules, joined them on shopping trips for community events and helped Emergency Management prepare signs and other materials for Canoe Journey.

“She’s just bouncing between all of us, and she seems to love it,” Swift said. “She’s always ready to jump in wherever we need her. She’s awesome.”

One of her biggest learning experiences has been answering phones.

“I don’t always know what people need or where to transfer them,” she said.

But those moments have also helped build her confidence by encouraging her to ask questions and learn something new each day.

An inside view

The experience differs from last summer, when she interned at the Suquamish Museum, where she learned customer service, worked in the gift shop and participated in management lessons with museum staff.

Among her new experiences this summer was sitting in on Tribal Council meetings with Carper, where she helped take notes on motions, resolutions, and council discussions.

Watching Tribal Council conduct business offered an entirely new perspective on how her tribe’s government operates.

The most difficult part, she said, was understanding the unfamiliar terminology and following discussions that moved quickly from one issue to the next.

“It’s a little confusing, but also really interesting,” she said. “I had no idea they handled so many different things and issues. There’s so much!”

Still, attending the meetings gave her a closer look at how council decisions are made and exposed her to programs and career opportunities she might not otherwise have known about.

Growing opportunities

During Tribal Council’s July 20 meeting, council members praised the Summer Youth Internship Program and encouraged organizers to expand opportunities for interns to shadow Tribal Council members and accompany them to regional and government-to-government meetings.

Council Member Jay Mills suggested interns could attend meetings with organizations such as the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission to better understand tribal leadership and advocacy.

Vice Chair Josh Bagley agreed, saying that could create additional opportunities for youth interns to see firsthand how the tribe serves its members.

Tribal Elder Kathy Kinzey also encouraged the interns to consider careers in medicine, law, natural resources, and tribal leadership. She told the students that seeing Native people succeed in those professions can help young people envision those possibilities for themselves.

“Sometimes you just have to see it to do it,” Kinzie said.

That resonated with Fontes-Lawrence, who has been considering a career in medicine.

Indeed, in that same meeting, sitting beside Carper and helping her with notes, Fontes-Lawrence found herself listening to a representative from the tribe’s new Kitsap OB-GYN program brief leaders.

She quietly mentioned to Carper that the work there sounded exciting.

“I would love to do that next summer,” Fontes-Lawrence told her. Carper promptly shared her interest with Council. “Yes!” said Bagley, “So moved!”

Start now

For students thinking about applying for next summer’s internship program, her advice is simple: Start now.

Fontes-Lawrence encourages students to start preparing long before applications open by getting involved in school activities, sports, or volunteer work. Those experiences, she said, not only strengthen a résumé but also give applicants something meaningful to talk about during interviews.

“Learn how to talk yourself up,” she said. “Talk about what you do well and make sure you’re very vocal about that.”

It’s advice a favorite teacher shared with her before her first interview and it helped.

Looking back, that interview she once feared became the first step toward discovering greater confidence — and perhaps now the career she hopes to pursue someday.

Early Learning Center celebrates preschool graduates with Aloha-themed send off

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Under a warm summer evening sky, families, Tribal Elders, teachers, and staff gathered in late July on the lawn at the House of Awakened Culture to celebrate graduates from the Eagle, Bear, and Bee classrooms of the Marion Forsman-Boushie Early Learning Center.

With a theme inspired by Indigenous Hawaiian “Aloha spirit” and the shared Suquamish values of love, kindness, respect, compassion, and gratitude, the evening recognized the preschoolers’ accomplishments while honoring the families, culture, and community that have supported them on their journey toward kindergarten.

Assistant Director James Alber served as master of ceremonies, while the Sacred Water Canoe Family opened the celebration with traditional songs. Classroom teachers later called graduates forward to receive certificates as proud families applauded and captured the milestone with photos.

Early Learning Center Director Kayla Wakefield reminded families that the evening celebrated not only the children’s academic growth, but also the values and relationships that will continue to guide them.

“Today we celebrate not only where our children are going, but also where they come from,” Wakefield said. “Each of our graduates carries the strength, love and wisdom of their families, communities and ancestors.”

Throughout the school year, she said, the children learned far more than letters and numbers. They learned to share, solve problems, ask questions, build friendships, and develop confidence while discovering that they belong to families, the Suquamish Tribe, and a community that supports them.

Comparing the graduates to voyagers beginning a new journey, Wakefield encouraged them to keep learning, exploring, asking questions, and sharing their smiles with the world. She reminded them that, wherever their paths lead, they will always have the support of their families, teachers, tribe, and community.

Wakefield also thanked parents and caregivers for their partnership throughout the year and praised the dedication of teachers and staff whose patience and care helped prepare the children for their next step.

Following the ceremony, Tribal Elder Dolores Mills offered a blessing before everyone gathered indoors for Hawaiian barbecue, continuing the evening’s island-inspired

celebration. Families, teachers, and staff then shared one final meal together as the graduates marked the close of their preschool years and looked ahead to kindergarten.

August Suquamish News out now

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Paddles Up: Your guide to the people, traditions, and protocols of Tribal Canoe Journey

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Tribal Canoe Journey brings thousands of people together on the water and ashore, each playing a part in carrying the Journey forward. For those experiencing it for the first time — or looking for a refresher — here’s what to know about canoe families, host communities, landings and protocol.

What is the Tribal Canoe Journey?

Tribal Journey is an annual event where canoes from across the region and beyond come together to share their cultures on the water and ashore. Tribes travel between communities until they reach the final host tribe. Once all the canoe families arrive at the final destination, tribal members engage in culturally rich activities, including protocol ceremonies where stories, songs, and gifts are shared. The hosting activities last for several days.

What is a canoe family?

A group of people who travel together via canoe, support boat, and/or ground support team. Some are tribal canoes, others are family canoes and some are intertribal canoes. They include community members of all ages.

Who participates?

Canoes have provided transportation for many Indigenous communities around the world. The Tribal Canoe Journey takes place annually across inland seas of the Coast Salish territories, and often reaches into the Northern Coastal regions, including tribal communities in Alaska and British Columbia, as well as along the coasts of Washington and California. Canoe families from as far as New Zealand and Hawaii have also joined in.

What are the responsibilities of host tribes?

As canoes travel to their final destination, they stop along the way to rest and recharge. Typically, host tribes along the route provide camping facilities and meals, as well as activities for the participants to come together and share.

As the journey progresses, more and more canoe families join in.

Support Boats

It is common for canoes to be on the water for 6-8 hours a day, or even more. They can range from simple fishing or sail boats to bigger vessels, but all support boats share one thing in common: they are always appreciated. Pulling alongside a support boat every few hours to switch out weary pullers, refill water bottles, take bathroom breaks, or grab a bite to eat is almost always a welcome break.

Landings

Once they’ve landed at their final destination, the event continues with shared meals and protocol ceremonies.

What’s happening when canoes come ashore?

Canoes will place “paddles up” as they approach the shore as a sign they are coming in peace, followed by someone from their canoe formally asking permission to come to shore.

A member of the hosting tribe – often Tribal Council members, youth royalty, and Elders – will grant the canoe permission to come ashore.

The canoe then will pull back out, circle around and come in backwards, as another sign of coming peacefully.

Here in Suquamish, canoes are then carried up our boat ramp and onto the lawn in front of the House of Awakened Culture. This is hard work and can be dangerous. Please stay out of the way.

In some locations, particularly when arriving to the final host of that year’s journey, canoes will request to come ashore in a specific order based on the distance from the hosting community.

Can I take photos? What about drones?

Feel free to photograph and video arriving canoe families and protocol ceremonies, unless an announcement is made to refrain from photography. When photographing individuals or specific items of regalia, it’s always polite to ask permission first.

Flying drones of any kind is not permitted in Suquamish during our hosting without specific permission from Suquamish Tribal Council or their designated representatives.

The Water Road to 2029
Suquamish set to host 40th anniversary of modern Tribal Canoe Journey

Four decades after Suquamish helped launch the modern Tribal Canoe Journey movement, canoes from across the region will once again come ashore here for a historic anniversary gathering.

The Suquamish Tribe committed in 2025 to host the 2029 Tribal Canoe Journey, marking 40 years since the 1989 Paddle to Seattle. Suquamish was the launching point for that first journey, which helped launch a revival of canoe culture and inspired the annual gatherings that now connect Indigenous nations throughout the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and Alaska.

For Suquamish Tribe’s Cultural Resources Director Kate Ahvakana, the anniversary is about much more than a chance to commemorate a single event. It is an opportunity to honor the cultural resurgence that Tribal Journeys have helped carry forward from one generation to the next.

“The Tribal Canoe Journeys and the canoes themselves have brought back so many traditions and cultural teachings to us and to many different communities, wide and far,” Ahvakana said. “We want to honor those teachings and those cultural knowledge systems that have been building — food sovereignty, traditional weaving, our language, our practices on the water and our potlatch practices.”

A growing wave

She described that resurgence as a growing wave that continues to carry more and more renewed teaching and cultural strengthening.

“One thing is always connected to another, “she said. “It uplifts our community. It helps our community do things culturally and traditionally.”

Suquamish hosted the 20th anniversary Canoe Journey in 2009, welcoming about 6,000 guests as more than 80 canoes landed on Suquamish shores. The tribe built the House of Awakened Culture in preparation for that gathering, creating a cultural home modeled after Chief Seattle’s longhouse that once stood a short walk down the beach.

In the years since, the House of Awakened Culture has become a place for songs, ceremonies, weddings, funerals, celebrations and community gatherings — an enduring legacy of hosting.

“That was because we hosted Tribal Journey,” Ahvakana said. “So, we’re really looking forward to hosting again to create something that is going to benefit our community in similar ways. Our community will be enriched by this.”

Planning already underway

Indeed, planning for 2029 is already beginning, though the work will become more visible later this year. Ahvakana said community meetings and other opportunities to participate are expected to begin toward the end of 2026 as preparations grow.

Some hands-on work, however, is already underway. Tribal Elder Patty Medina has already been seen hard at work in her commitment to make 1,000 necklaces for giveaway items in 2029.

Meanwhile, the journey will continue across ancestral water highways over the next two years. The tribal community in Ketchikan, Alaska, is scheduled to host next summer in what promises to be an epic journey for participating canoe families. In 2028, the We Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum First Nations in Campbell River, British Columbia are set to host.

But first this year’s Paddle to Medicine Creek Potlach will conclude with the Nisqually Tribe, where gathering canoe families will honor Billy Frank Jr., the Medicine Creek Treaty, and the long struggle to uphold treaty fishing rights. Ahvakana said visiting Nisqually brings renewed attention to sovereignty, salmon habitat, and the legal battles that continue to protect tribal fisheries.

Looking ahead to 2029, Ahvakana said the anniversary carries a powerful reminder of how far the movement has come.

“Since the revitalization of the Tribal Canoe Journey, our children will never know life without canoes and culture,” she said. “We have children now who have never known a different way. And that’s beautiful.”

From Canoe Kid to Cultural Coordinator Kyles Gemmell Helps Carry the Journey Forward

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There were the freezing cold showers. Itchy regalia. Pouring rain. Middle-of-the-night wake-ups for protocol. And then there were the lice.

When Suquamish tribal member Kyles Gemmell participated in their first Tribal Canoe Journey at age nine as a member of the tribe’s song and dance group, the experience was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

“They were hoping it was so bad that I had forgotten,” Gemmell said. “Nope! I don’t know how you could forget that?”

Yet more than two decades later, Gemmell is helping coordinate the tribe’s participation in this year’s Canoe Journey as the Suquamish Tribe’s new Cultural Activities Coordinator.

Looking back, those inconveniences were a small price to pay for an experience that would shape Gemmell’s life.

Over the years, Gemmell has participated in nine Canoe Journeys, learning nearly every aspect of the event along the way. Today, they are helping oversee everything from hosting arriving canoe families in Suquamish to preparing and provisioning pullers and support crew traveling on this year’s journey to Nisqually.

The details are endless. The logistics are complex. Gemmell and the team from the Cultural Resources Department have to-do lists longer than the canoes themselves.

But Gemmell feels prepared for the challenge.

Cultural reawakening

Tribal Canoe Journey traces its roots to the 1989 “Paddle to Seattle” when tribal canoe families traveled from Suquamish to Seattle as part of the Washington Centennial celebration. From that first journey, the  now annual event has grown in scope and scale, celebrating Coast Salish cultures throughout the region.

“Tribal Canoe Journeys have been a means to bring back a lot of different aspects of tribal culture,” Gemmell said.

By the late 1980s, many tribal communities had stopped regularly carving canoes, making paddles, or weaving cedar bark hats. Canoe Journey helped revitalize those practices, along with songs, dances, regalia, and other cultural traditions.

“Tribes not only had to relearn things, but they also began improving them. For example, the cedar regalia I wore when I was younger was so itchy,” Gemmell said. “Now we know what to do to make it more comfortable.”

Rediscovering and revitalizing traditional practices have also provided insight into the knowledge and experiences of ancestors.

Gemmell recalled overhearing a canoe skipper connecting the dots from the past to the present while discussing cedar hats.

“He said a cedar hat is perfect to wear on a canoe because it blocks the sun and provides a barrier to the rain,” Gemmell said. “He then said, ‘Oh! This is why our ancestors made hats this way.’”

Around the corner

Each year, a different tribe hosts the final landing and protocol ceremonies. Canoe families depart from communities across the region, joining together as they travel toward the host tribe.

Last year, for example, Tribal Canoe Journey landed at the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe near Port Angeles. Canoe families from Suquamish spent four days getting there. For Skwah First Nation, pulling from British Columbia, it was an 11-day journey to the final landing.

However much time you spend, Gemmell said there is nothing quite like the healing that comes from being out on the water.

“When you’re out there, the focus is on working together to get to the next spot,” they said.

“Nothing else matters except for that moment.”

And if pullers ask how much farther?

“The skippers will never tell you,” Gemmell said. “They will just say, ‘Around the corner,’ but they never say which corner.”

It’s not a race or a competition. Instead, Gemmell said, it’s about the journey and helping everyone arrive together.

From puller to planner

Gemmell began pulling in canoes as a teenager, and it wasn’t long before they were assigned to seat one, the critical position that sets the pace for all the pullers.

“I think I was put in that seat because I didn’t give up, even when I was tired,” Gemmell said.

One year during song and dance practice, Suquamish Tribal Elder Peg Deam gave Gemmell their Lushootseed name, čusəd, meaning star. Deam chose the name because Gemmell quickly picked up songs, dances, and traditional Lushootseed introductions and was always ready to help at community gatherings.

Later this month, as canoe families arrive and depart from Suquamish waters, Gemmell will once again be called on to shine — helping ensure a new generation creates memories and connections of their own.

“The experience is about connecting with others and healing in whatever form you need,” Gemmell said. “That is Tribal Canoe Journey.”

 

New Suquamish Museum exhibit explores growing up Suquamish

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The newest exhibit at the Suquamish Museum invites visitors to do more than look at history — it encourages them to touch it, hear it, feel it and see themselves reflected in it.

“Carrying It On: Suquamish Youth, Past and Present” opened to the public June 12, offering an interactive exploration of what it means to grow up Suquamish. Co-curated by Museum Curator and Archivist Marta Belmont and Anna Mirzayan, the exhibit follows the journey of Suquamish youth from early childhood through ultimately becoming a revered Elder, examining the traditions, relationships and responsibilities that help shape identity.

“What family will they become part of?” Belmont asks. “Will they be a puller, a dancer, a drummer, a leader?”

The exhibit arrives as Belmont celebrates her first anniversary as curator, a role that has become deeply personal. Although her father served as Suquamish Tribal Chairman before she was born and when she was an infant, Belmont was raised in Bremerton and had limited exposure to Suquamish culture and community while growing up.

“It’s why I love this job so much — because I didn’t get it when I was younger,” she said.

Like many people, Belmont’s cultural journey didn’t begin in childhood. It began decades later. “I didn’t join my canoe family until I was in my 40s,” she said. “I started researching my heritage when I became a mom and I wanted to know about my culture and find my place in community.”

Part of that journey began when Suquamish Canoe Family Skipper Nigel Lawrence encouraged her to get involved with the canoe family. “It’s your birthright!” he told her.

Belmont eventually joined the canoe family, becoming the first Belmont to pull in a Suquamish canoe in recent memory. What began as a search for connection grew into a deeper understanding of family, community and identity.

Today, she says she belongs to multiple families within the community.

“I spend more time with my canoe family and my firework family,” she said. “Those are the people I go to and the people I celebrate with.”

That sense of belonging is woven throughout the exhibit. Visitors encounter stories and photographs that highlight the many paths Suquamish youth can take as they grow into their roles within the community.

A central theme of the exhibit is resiliency. Historic photographs of Tribal Elders during their youth are paired with contemporary images of today’s young people participating in the same activities decades later.

“We’re still doing it,” Belmont said with a smile.

Across the room, visitors can spot striking parallels between generations — a young person learning cultural practices today mirrored by an Elder who once stood in their shoes many years ago.

“You can look at a contemporary picture and across the room find another generation doing the same thing, decades apart,” Belmont said.

The exhibit also challenges traditional museum expectations. Rather than a collection of artifacts tucked safely behind glass, Carrying It On encourages hands-on exploration.

“Museums have always been ‘look but don’t touch,’” Belmont said. “That’s not how many people learn.”

Interactive stations invite visitors to engage their senses by touching cedar, twirling a replica jingle dress, shaking a red cedar rattle and experiencing cultural items in motion.

“Feel it, hear it, see it in action,” Belmont said.

For Belmont, the exhibit carries a message that extends beyond the walls of the museum.

“It’s never too late to get yourself into your community and your culture,” she said.

She hopes visitors leave inspired to think about the traditions that shaped their own lives — whether those traditions come from Suquamish culture or another heritage entirely. And, there is a dedicated display board designed to celebrate them.

“Take time to think about your own culture and appreciate that thing and person you learned it from,” she said. “I want to see this board overflowing from people with traditions from all over the world.”

Just as she was encouraged to explore her own place in Suquamish culture, Belmont hopes others recognize that understanding where they come from is something everyone deserves.

“I think everyone should see themselves in community because they are part of community.”