Northwest: Coast Salish

In 1989, the state of Washington celebrated its centennial anniversary. Elders from the Coast Salish tribes of indigenous peoples, specifically those in Western Washington’s Puget Sound region and the Olympic Peninsula, decided to fete their own place in history. A "Paddle to Seattle" was organized around 12 tribes who would travel by canoes through natural waterways in the state’s upper left corner, just as their ancestors plied those same waters for food and trade over the centuries. That 1989 lengthy journey south has been held annually ever since (now going all the way to Olympia), with the numbers of participating tribes from all across Washington expanding, comprising an impressive, boisterous fleet. Writer-director Charles "Boots" Kennedye’s Northwest: Coast Salish is an episode in the four-part documentary series Growing Native, which focuses on the resurgence of Native American interest and pride in tribal traditions, language, and education taking place all over North America. Often suppressed and buried for generations by white authorities, as host Chris Eyre recounts, these cultural identity markers are now striking chords with a younger generation, as well as older people who are rediscovering their skills and voices. Here, Eyre travels around the Tulalip Tribes reservation, among other places, discovering the work of artists and craftspeople grounded in Native American histories, as well as schools that emphasize language and culture, and food producers who are canning salmon and cooking camas bulbs in a pit with smoldering leaves. A fine celebratory look at Native American culture in Western Washington, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (T. Keogh)