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Our people once described our existence as one that was a people traveling on the waters of life in a canoe. In this canoe was every piece of who we were; our culture, our laws, our worldviews, values, beliefs, and therefore, our way of existing in this world as complete and healthy peoples. Celanen was a term used to define all of those things carried within our canoe, the “canoe of our culture.”
Spelac is a term used to describe the destruction and erosion of our people, land, and culture by outside forces. Spelac means the “overturning of the canoe of our culture.” What Spelac suggests is that at some point when we were traveling in our canoe, a storm occurred and a great fog covered the waters. During the storm, gigantic waves began to form and eventually overturned the canoe, leaving us in the waters to be lost at sea. Today, we are lost at sea. We are trying to first find our way back to the canoe, then turn it upright and find our way back to the places we once knew that kept us safe. The waves have and continue to engulf us, leaving many of us drowned, tired, an unwilling or unable to find our way back to the canoe. Many of us grasp for anything that we can hold onto in order to keep ourselves afloat and many time the things we grab onto are detrimental to our health and wellbeing.
This is where we find ourselves today; because so much of our culture has been lost, hidden, withheld, destroyed, damaged, and forgotten; some people try to find other wyas to deal with both the loss and the issues created by the loss by turning to unhealthy life ways such as alcohol, substances, and other at risk behaviors. It is still up to us to find the canoe and return it upright in order to eventually find our way home. We possess the opportunity and ability to return, but it takes significant commitment to work to bring the canoe to shore, turn it upright, and find the missing pieces of our culture and the missing people lost at sea to bring them back to our canoe and begin traveling through life as a healthy community with an understanding of our purpose, strength, commitment, and accountability to each other and our community as a whole.
Amongst the Klallam people the understanding existed that if one is sick all of us are sick. It is the duty of those that do not feel the ailments of the sicknesses to look after those that are physically, mentally, and spiritually affected by the sickness and to search for the things that are necessary to heal from the sickness. In this instance our sicknesses are the number of social problems are people are faced with, specifically alcohol and other substances. At one point in time our people existed in a healthy manner because we possessed the knowledge and the necessary cultural materials that kept us functioning in a way that was in accordance with the accountability, connection, respect, laws, and values for ourselves, our peoples, and our lands. It is up to the one’s not afflicted by the sicknesses of substances to find the missing pieces that are still floating at sea and to bring back the people that are lost in order to reunite them and begin to move forward in a healthy way.
Həw̕e̕ʔyəŋ̕ is the “return” or “the return of the canoe of our culture.” This culture, which is now lost, damaged, viewed as irrelevant, and misunderstood; was once vibrant, functioning, and viewed as beautiful and sacred and allowed for our people to exist in a healthy manner. Everything from the ways of fishing and hunting which taught us of our agreements, our connection, and our relationships with the animals, fish, and birds; to gathering medicines, clothing, nets, and food from plants which taught us of our reliance on other beings in our community as well as our obligation to them. We once understood that we had to be of clean mind, body, and spirit, in order to properly carry out our duties or our actions could affect others and cause a disruption in our connection and accountability to one another. These are the things that have been lost but that we should all work together to bring back/return to our canoe. This process of “treatment” allows for those who have become reliant on substances to learn of the things we once relied upon as well as bring these things back to other. This can reinforce their understanding of their obligations to others as well as their esteem, belief in themselves, the fact that they matter, and how important they are to the community.
This year our Klallam youth have taken it upon themselves to begin the process of returning the canoe of our culture upright again. They have worked to bring back songs and dances, have worked on regalia, prepared with countless hours of practice for a canoe journey to Ahousaht to help the bring their relatives who have been removed from their homelands back to the home of their ancestors. This group of youth have worked to smoke, jar, and prepare traditional foods to sustain them on this three week long trip as well have worked to gain the knowledge to be able to build their own lodging while on this trip. The youth’s power, strength, and beauty has always been there, what is amazing is that they are finally beginning to notice it within themselves.
We are asking that if anyone has the ability to help these youth with the hard work that they are taking upon themselves to do, then please do so as it is our belief and your belief that allows them to grow into who they are born to be as opposed to being forced into becoming what we have been told to become. Any donations will go to food, backup camping materials (tents, bedding, etc), and funding to continue the digging out/carving of their new youth canoe.
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