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Reviving the canoe culture
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Posted on Aug 30 2019
The Indigenous Affairs Office and 500 Sails organized an appreciation get-together to celebrate the journey of the first Summer Canoe Camp participants. (Iva maurin)
The Indigenous Affairs Office and 500 Sails recently celebrated the achievement of five teens who completed a Summer Canoe Camp that introduced them to traditional canoe culture, including building and sailing.
The monthlong camp saw Miles Timmons, 14; Conall Hartig, 14; Matthew Ernest, 14; Tama Salas, 16; and Ryan Hunter Simon, 16, taking part in efforts to revive the canoe culture on the islands.
Timmons said they learned how to sail and how to build a canoe using fiberglass.
IAO program manager Cris Ogo urged the participants at a recent get-together to let other youths know that the camp is “a safe place to work and that it is fun.”
“Continue to contribute and inspire other youth to join the program,” he added.
IAO resident executive Roman Tudela Jr. thanked 500 Sails for its partnership. “500 Sails has been with us from the very beginning…and they have been taking a lot of steps to facilitate the revival of the canoe,” Tudela said.
500 Sails executive director Peter J. Perez said that reviving the canoe culture means making the canoe a part of people’s daily lives. “That means people who fish, who use canoes for daily transportation, people who build and fix canoes, have ceremonies, and meet around them.”
Perez said the canoe culture was lost after the colonization of the islands. “We need to have that critical mass to make the canoe culture re-established,” Perez added.
