TULALIP — Do not call a Coast Salish canoe a boat.
A boat conjures images of metal, machine construction and paint. The “b” word just doesn’t fit.
Carved from huge, whole Western red cedar logs, the ancient canoes of the Coast Salish people had a spirit and a life.
The trees were thanked before being felled, hollowed, carved, steamed and smoothed into shape.
“Cedar is like our mother,” once said the late canoe carver Jerry Jones of the Tulalip Tribes. “Our whole lives were encircled with cedar.”
An exhibit at the Hibulb Cultural Center, now through next June, is focused on the importance of the canoe to the culture of the people who call Tulalip home.
The Tulalip Tribes — Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skykomish and other bands — are canoe people.
They ran canoes on the rivers, using a pole to push the vessel down river to hunt, fish, gather and trade. They used paddles to pull large canoes across the sea to attend funerals and ceremonies. They had sleek war canoes and wide canoes built for women and children.
A visit to Hibulb should start with a look at the 12-man, ocean-going canoe in the main hallway of the center. This vessel was moved from Wayne Williams’ place on the reservation years ago and into Hibulb when the museum opened in 2011. It served as a model for Tulalip carvers when they made the Tribes’ Centennial Canoe, used in 1989 for the state centennial Paddle to Seattle journey, the forerunner of the annual Tribal Canoe Journey.
A few men among the Tulalip Tribes kept the art of canoe carving alive during tough times a few generations ago.
As the last hereditary chief of the Snohomish, William Shelton, who lived from 1869 to 1938, was able to convince the federal government to let him carve story poles and canoes at a time when there was a concerted effort to squelch all practice of American Indian culture.
(As a reminder, it was not until 1978 that a joint resolution of Congress set into law the right of tribes to protect and preserve traditional religious rights and cultural practices.)
Other carvers of sea-going canoes at Tulalip included Cashmere Sam, who died in 1934 and whose work can be seen at the Burke Museum on the University of Washington campus, and Ambrose Bagley, who lived until 1956. More recent canoe carvers included Kenny Moses Sr., who died in 1994, and Jerry Jones, who died in 2003, as well as Joe Gobin and Jason Gobin.
All were instrumental to the renaissance of sea-going canoes.
Felix Solomon, a Lummi-Haida artist who also has been a leader in the revival of Coast Salish carving, made shovel-nose dugout river canoes for the Stillaguamish and Sauk-Suiattle tribes in 2010 and 2011 — the first traditional river canoes in modern times. (The shovel-nose dugout river canoe owned by the Stillaguamish Tribe is displayed in front of the Angel of the Winds Casino, 3438 Stoluckquamish Lane, located north of Arlington.)
The Hibulb’s Coast Salish Canoes exhibit offers a historical perspective, from life before contact by Europeans to the Tribal Canoe Journey of today, said Hibulb tour specialist Mary Jane Topash.
Tulalip hosted the canoe journey in 2003, an honor that rotates among Indian nations in Washington state and First Nations in British Columbia.
Visitors can learn about the types of tribal canoes, tools and construction, canoe travel, canoe stories, the important canoe carvers and about gatherings that included canoe races in Coupeville, Topash said.
Included in the exhibit are photos of local scenes on loan from the collections of the University of Washington and the Museum of History and Industry, along with a documentary about the making of the Centennial Canoe and other videos.
Maria Dittberner of Seattle visited Hibulb late in August.
“I am viewing the canoe from another level, that nature and man are one,” she said. “The canoes were made from one tree trunk. It’s amazing.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
Hibulb Cultural Center
Coast Salish Canoes, through June 2015, Hibulb Cultural Center, 6410 23rd Ave. NE, Tulalip. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. On the first Thursday of each month, the museum is open with free admission until 8 p.m. More information is at www.hibulbculturalcenter.org.
Correction: In an earlier version of this story, Hibulb tour specialist Mary Jane Topash’s name was misspelled. The story is now correct.
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