2024 Paddle to Sx̌ʷnítkʷ

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Published: Wednesday, 03 July 2024 17:07

The Inchelium Language & Culture Association hosted the 2024 Paddle to Sx̌ʷnítkʷ. Daily paddles started on June 10 at Wynecoop’s Dock on the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt. They first traveled downstream to the confluence of the Columbia River/Lake Roosevelt before migrating north to Mission Point on June 20.

The association describes the journey as “A celebration of our unity and the beautiful river we share.” Traditional tribal canoes led the way.

On the final leg, their path over the water crossed where the Kettle Falls would’ve have been roaring before the creation of Lake Roosevelt. Historically, the Kettle Falls Fishery was one of the largest, most vibrant locations on the Columbia River for tribes from as far away as present-day Montana to gather, harvest salmon and steelhead, and trade.

As canoes landed at Mission Point, they yelled with their native language and said what tribe(s) was represented on the canoe. After beaching, they carried the canoes up the beach where tribal leaders then led a ceremony for the salmon, the water, the sun, and the people.

The First Annual Kettle Falls Canoe Journey happened in 2016 as a collaborative effort “… to breathe new life into the traditional art of dugout canoe building while also spotlighting important initiatives like fish passage and the ecological clean up and protection of the Columbia River.”

Learn more at the Sx̌ʷnítkʷ website, which also includes a video from the 2019 paddle called “Calling the Salmon Home.”