NISQUALLY — Physically and spiritually, pullers from points far and wide embarked from different places to end up at the Port of Olympia this weekend on the journey that is Paddle to Nisqually 2016.

About 100 canoes, each containing five to 10 pullers, included participants from as far away as California and New York and as close as Port Angeles’ Lower Elwha Klallam and the Sequim area’s Jamestown S’Klallam contingents.

North Olympic Peninsula tribal members also hailed from the Makah, Hoh and Quileute and Quinault tribes.

After pulling the Nisqually canoe for the last leg, Gov. Jay Inslee stepped on dry land with tribal members to mark the end of Stage 1 of Paddle to Nisqually 2016.

The Nisqually tribe hosts protocol and potlatch events today through Saturday on the Nisqually reservation 15 miles east of Olympia, where tribes will share dances, songs, gifts and stories in events open to the public.

“They start from wherever they are from, and all end up at the same place,” Nisqually tribal spokeswoman Debbie Preston said Sunday.

“Something happens out on the water with them all singing together.

“You just hear them say that.

“They all become one with their creator and with each other.”

Thousands expected

Up to 10,000 people are expected to attend.

“There’s just a lot of young kids here, and that’s what the tribes wanted to see,” Preston said.

One of several tribes from British Columbia pulled for a month, Preston said, while Puyallup tribal members started out over the weekend, before all settled Saturday into areas set aside for RVs but mostly tents.

A California tribe had a distinctive paddle that weighed 30 pounds, while a New York tribe pulled a Nisqually canoe.

Today, they all take a deep breath, Preston said.

“The Nisqually have built a second city, if you will, to host,” she added.

Inslee continued an occasional tradition of Washington governors receiving an invitation to help pull a canoe for the final day, Preston said.

Then-Gov. Chris Gregoire joined the Swinomish canoe in 2011.

Paddle to Seattle

Preston said a renaissance of the canoe-journey tradition began with a few canoes in the 1989 Paddle to Seattle for the Washington state centennial when what was a tradition shared solely among tribes became an annual, more public event.

The 1989 canoe journey was the brainchild of Quinault tribal member Emmet Oliver and Frank Brown of Bella Bella.

Since then, the canoe journey has become a nearly annual event.

It took a hiatus in 2015 before resuming this year.

It’s been hosted by the Lower Elwha, Makah, Quinault and Quileute tribes.

“We will not forget the water that sustains our fish and our people,” Hanford McCloud, Nisqually tribal council and canoe family member said Saturday.

“It is great to have Gov. Inslee not just for this wonderful day, but every day that we are working together on the social, economic and natural resource issues that are affecting our tribal people.”

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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.