Tlingit celebration starts with canoe trip in the Yukon

Tlingit master carver Wayne Price’s 28-foot red cedar Jibba canoe has travelled nearly 1,400 nautical miles on the ocean and inland. Now, the canoe has even more miles on it thanks to a trip Price and a group of young paddlers took as part of Haa Ḵusteeyí, a gathering celebrating inland Tlingit in the Yukon and northern British Columbia. Haa Ḵusteeyí translates to “Our Way” in Tlingit. The three-day event took place July 25-27. “It was wonderful…we loved it,” said Price, who travelled from his home in Haines, Alaska, to participate. “It’s good to see all my family and friends again. You know, when I come here, I just feel like I’m coming back home.” Across the border in Alaska The bi-annual celebration rotates between the Carcross/Tagish First Nation (C/TFN) and the Teslin Tlingit Council in the Yukon, as well as the Taku River Tlingit First Nation in Atlin in northern B.C., while drawing Tlingit from across the border in Alaska. This year, C/TFN hosted the event for the first time since 2019. The First Nation is located in Carcross, about an hour drive south of Whitehorse. The gathering traditionally includes a Tlingit canoe trip, with its arrival on Friday kicking off the festivities. Price, who helps promote healing through the creation of dugout canoes, said the journey with two dozen or so paddlers took two days to complete from Marsh Lake near Whitehorse to Carcross. He noted the weather was challenging at times. “(We) could … see the waves going and lightning, and when we took off and the seas were really rough – three-foot seas, whitecaps – and we decided to put the sail up because we had the wind, and boy – we were going really fast,” he said. Reconnect with traditions Price said the trip is a good way for young Tlingit to reconnect with their traditions. “They get to see and have this experience,” he said. “We’re slowly bringing (our culture) back together.” Carcross/Tagish paddler Kayden Smith, 19, said it was his first canoe trip and something he hopes to do again. “It was pretty cool,” he said. “I guess I experienced what my ancestors went through, in a way.” The gathering includes dancing, storytelling and cultural demonstrations like weaving and moosehide tanning. Bentwood box-maker Joanne Williams, a Taku River Tlingit bentwood box maker, who teaches the cultural practice along with her husband Maurice Ouimette, held a workshop for those interested in learning more about the art. Williams said it’s her duty as a knowledge holder to pass on the cultural practice to others, something Haa Ḵusteeyí gives her the opportunity to do. “A lot of bentwood box makers don’t share their knowledge, so it’s our opportunity to open the door for more young people to come in and learn and carry on the tradition of bentwood box making,” she said. Carcross/Tagish citizen Gary Sidney Johnson said the best way to celebrate Indigenous culture is to share it with others. “Before social media, the way we honored things is we witnessed (them). If you’re showing up and witnessing, that’s how you honor it,” he said. The next Haa Ḵusteeyí is scheduled for 2027. Continue Reading