By Corvo Rohwer, Puyallup Tribal News
Just weeks before the upcoming Power Paddle to Puyallup Youth Canoe Journey landing in Tacoma, the Puyallup Canoe Family and friends gathered to celebrate the 28th birthday of the Thunder Spirit canoe on July 16.
The Tribe received the canoe on July 17, 1996, and has been a monument of cultural pride for years, with Culture Department Assistant Director Clinton McCloud acknowledging that it represents a commitment to health, healing and sobriety.
Festivities kicked off with cold water training before reconvening for a warm and hearty meal. Attendees celebrated with delicious food and fry bread, while completing the birthday tradition with a red and white commemorative cake adorned with frosted flowers.
As for Thunder Spirit, the canoe was honored with a cedar brushing ceremony alongside a birthday drum song. Participants doused cedar boughs with water before gently brushing the surface of the canoe in an act of cleansing and blessing.
McCloud mentioned during the commemoration that it isn’t necessary that they brush every inch, and that it is more of a symbolic cleansing.
Carved from a cedar tree itself, this ceremony provided an opportunity for Tribal members to give thanks and connect with the canoe both personally and spiritually. Guests also received a brushing of their own in similar fashion to complete the ceremony.
