Kent and Covington middle and high school students with the Institute for Community Leadership teamed up with United Parcel Service volunteers this month to paint cedar canoe paddles and create community.
A dozen UPS team members from Northwest District Headquarters joined the diverse youth as part of a three year cultural project between the Institute and Quinault master carver, Guy Capoeman. The paddles, made from cedar and fir, will be used to paddle a 32 foot, ocean going canoe which the young people assisted Capoeman in constructing last year.
The canoe, built from windfall cedar over a thousand years old from the Quinault Indian Nation, and the paddles are an effort to renew culture.
The Kent and Covington students come from different races and backgrounds, studied their own respective cultures, as well as that of the Quinault, as they participated in the project.
Over the summer the students traveled to Taholah to participate in the week long cultural celebrations of Tribal Canoe Journeys with over 10,000 people. They welcomed the arrival of the “R.S. Capoeman” canoe, paddled by Quinault youth through the Strait of Juan DeFuca and down the Pacific Coast.
Project supporters include the Quinault Indian Nation, the Muckleshoot Tribe, US Bank, Moneytree, the Tulalip Tribes, Snoqualmie Tribe, Squaxin Island Tribe, Middle Green River Coalition, the Halo Network, and other areas businesses.
