BRINNON — The first contingent of canoes participating in the annual Tribal Canoe Journey to reach a North Olympic Peninsula beach is expected to arrive in Brinnon today.
Pullers from the Quinault and Skonomish tribes, canoeing north on Hood Canal, are expected to arrive between noon and 3 p.m. at Hjelvik’s Beach beach, said Joe Baisch of the North Hood Canal Chamber of Commerce.
The pullers will share a traditional potlatch of clam chowder, salad, bread and berry pie at Brinnon School between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Residents of Brinnon and Quilcene are invited.
The pullers then will camp overnight at Dosewallips State Park, then continue their journey north up Hood Canal, joining other canoes at Port Gamble on Tuesday and Port Townsend on Wednesday.
They and yet more canoes from the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia are converging on Neah Bay, where the Makah tribe will host an estimated 10,000 — including pullers from more than 50 tribes — for six days starting next Monday.
A map of tribal routes and scheduled stopovers on the Puget Sound, Vancouver Island and Olympic Peninsula is accessible from the www.peninsuladailynews.com home page.
Volunteers are still needed to help with the event at Neah Bay.
The Makah have about 350 volunteers in place and 95 employees dedicated to the Tribal Journey, but 200 more are needed.
To help Makah host the Tribal Journey, phone the tribal center at 360-645-2201. More information is available at www.makah.com.