Over 200 people, many wearing regalia, gathered on a sunny afternoon at Auke Recreation Area, the former site of a Tlingit village. Ten canoes floating near the shore took turns for traditional protocols before landing on the beach.
Among them was Petersburg’s killer whale canoe, or kéet yaakw in Lingít.
“My name is ShaaL’aanee, my English name is Brandon Ware,” Ware, the skipper, shouted from the water. “Gunalchéesh for having us. We are so grateful to be here. Forgive me if I miss protocol — this is our first Journey in over 100 years!”
A roar of applause followed Ware’s introduction.
The 39-foot, fiberglass, Tlingit-style canoe is Petersburg’s first in a century or so. This was its first multi-day Journey, and had its inaugural launch out of Petersburg, another historic first, just 10 days earlier.
After several introductions, permission was given and all the canoes landed on the beach. Dozens of pullers from communities throughout and beyond the region were welcomed ashore and given water while singing, dancing and drumming ensued.
Friends, family and loved ones found each other in the crowd soon after to congratulate the pullers on their arrival.
Standing with his wife and baby, who accompanied the group on its safety boat to document the Journey, Ware tried to find the words.
“It’s bittersweet, man. This is the most incredible feeling in the world, being able to pull up and see everyone here,” he said. “I had tears in my eyes when we were coming ashore. This has been a dream of mine since I was little, and to be able to see this and see it through, I can’t describe it.”
Only about nine pullers signed up to paddle kéet yaakw through Alaska’s Inside Passage, including his brothers.
Ságooch Billy Ware described the moment as powerful for kéet yaakw and his community. He said it felt “surreal.”
“I’ve crabbed and I fished in these waters all the way from Petersburg to Juneau, but being able to take the time and camp on the beach, like in Sumdum underneath the glaciers, it was breathtaking,” he said. “It really gave you a different perspective on just how tough and durable our people were, and just the life that they lived. This has been an amazing experience.”
The group made several traditional landings while stopping at villages along the way to Juneau. He said the first time they did after departing from Petersburg, or Séet Ká Kwáan in Lingít, was “incredibly important” to him.
“We got to do the first official landing for a canoe out of Séet Ká Kwáan in over 100 years, and I was privileged enough to do the landing introduction, and just ask for the permission to be on their land,” he said. “Never in my life did I think that I would get a chance to do it. It was an honor and a privilege.”
That first landing happened in Kake, a village on Kupreanof Island. The group ended up spending about three days there while waiting out some weather.
For puller Gabe Dunham, it was the most memorable part of this Journey.
“They were wonderful hosts, and they fed us every night,” Dunham said. “[After dinner], people from almost a half a dozen different communities just came together and danced and sang songs, and it was a really powerful thing to be able to share with my boys.”
Dunham said he joined this historic paddle from Petersburg so he could learn more about Tlingit culture and share that with his two young sons, who tagged along mostly aboard the safety boat.
There are a couple of other special moments from the 10-day Journey that stood out for Dunham, too, like when he earned the nickname “Paddle Beaver” from the group.
“We were trying to break six knots speed in the canoe, and we nearly got there, but we were all paddling at about 110% and were working hard. And that’s when I broke my second paddle,” Dunham recalled with light laughter.
Gooch tláa Victoria Moore paddled the canoe from Petersburg with her son, Đat xá a gutch Alex, who has autism. Like most of the pullers on kéet yaakw, it was their first canoe Journey to Celebration.
“He did great, I just so appreciate everybody helping me bring him to his culture and to Celebration, to my homeland here in Juneau,” she said. “To be a part of the canoe that it’s been over 100 years, that’s pretty special to me, and that my son got to join me on that Journey of, you know, making some new connections. This is beautiful. Gunalchéesh.”
Over 100 miles, 100 years, and 10 days later, the Journey was complete for the first traditional canoe out of Petersburg.
“And now we’re at Celebration,” said Ságooch Billy Ware. “It’s time to Hoo Ha!”
Kéet yaakw was shipped home to Petersburg after the ceremony. The four-day Celebration festival, hosted by Sealaska Heritage Institute, wrapped up on June 6.
KTOO’s Yvonne Krumrey contributed to this report.