Some of the tribal preparations for the upcoming Paddle to Swinomish

Each summer, Tribal Canoes travel from their home territories to a common destination within the Coast Salish territory. This has been an annual tradtion for the last 20 years. The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community will host the end of journey events this year.

Paddle to Swinomish 2011
Monday July 25th to Sunday July 31st.
To read more about Paddle to Swinomish 2011 go to the official website http://paddletoswinomish.com/.

In preparation for this huge event there has been quite a lot of work going on across the channel from us.

First they cleared a huge beach for the canoes.
Then they began bringing in loads of sand.
Next began the construction of 3 buildings on the beach.

To me they resemble the cedar hats
the coastal Salish people made.

You get a look at the progression of the building process.....

it has been interesting to watch them come together!

a closer look at the construction

These look so cool.

 I can't wait to see what these look like

when the project is finished!