Swinomish Days celebrated Coast Salish culture

The book had closed on this year’s Canoe Journey, but new chapters were written on Swinomish Channel last weekend.

Tribal racing canoes were on the water as a main main highlight of the three-day Swinomish Days festival the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community hosts to celebrats traditional Coast Salish history and culture.

The Aug. 9-11 gathering drew participants, spectators and guests to Swinomish and La Conner from throughout the Salish Sea region with areas in and around John K. Bob Ball Park lined with tents, canopies and motorhomes.

This year’s edition had something for all ages.

Swinomish youth were honored when the tribal community’s 2024-25 royal court was crowned during Saturday night ceremonies.

The outdoor 3-on-3 basketball tournament drew top high school and college talent, including Lummi Nation standout Jerome Toby, recently returned from London, England, where he had played with a touring team and explored landmarks, including Buckingham Palace.

As a sophomore last year, Toby broke the career 1,000-point barrier.

La Conner High School alums Ivory Damien and Buda Luna were part of a tourney field that pounded the courts for several hours in the summer heat.

The festival launched with a Coastal Jam and a seated senior beach ball/volleyball tournament comprised of teams from Swinomish, Lummi and Samish.

Throughout, there were opportunities to purchase Native American arts and crafts, food and beverages, enjoy singing and drumming, attend raffle prize drawings and partake of the ever-popular stick games, a historic pastime of chance and strategy.

Mickey Mouse and Sponge Bob bouncy houses were favorite stops for kids at the ballpark, where earlier in the week National Night Out – which fosters community spirit and relationship building among residents, law enforcement and emergency first responders – was staged.

Spectators on the Swinomish and the La Conner sides of the channel focused on the slew of canoe races held.

The races were revived in the late 1990s to honor the birthday of late tribal senator and World War II combat veteran Chester Cayou, Sr. His great-grandson, La Conner High School alumnus Elijah Porter, served as starter for the 2024 contests.

Saturday’s racers dealt first with an ebbing tide that forced crews to carry their canoes through thick mud to place them in the water.

“Be careful or you’re gonna fall in,” one canoeist cautioned her teammates. “This is crazy mud!”

Later in the afternoon, swift current conditions forced suspension of the races. They resumed later, though, much to the delight of onlookers.

Some of those spectators viewed the action from vessels plying the channel, the tour boat Rosario among them.

Swinomish Education Department Director Michael Vendiola announced the races alongside Loran James, La Conner High School’s head softball coach. He also supervises student advocates and paraprofessionals employed by Swinomish to work in the schools’ classrooms.

During a break between races Vendiola invoked the memory of James’ father, the late Landy James, for whom the high school’s gymnasium is named.

“He was our Northwest Jim Thorpe,” Vendiola said. James was a multi-sport star in the 1940s prior to excelling in football and baseball at Washington State University.

After teaching and coaching in Eastern Washington, James returned to Swinomish and resumed his career in education at La Conner, guiding several Braves teams to the state playoffs.

“He was one of our great ancestors,” said Vendiola, “and a former (Swinomish) senator, tribal chairman and educator.”

Vendiola also praised the youth solo canoeists.

“I always think it’s amazing,” he said, “that these young ones are on the water at 13 years of age, in the seventh or eighth grade.”

Swinomish Days enjoyed a strong attendance despite wildfire smoke that impacted the area. The tribal environmental protection department issued a cautionary air quality update at the weekend’s start.

Fortunately, by most accounts, Swinomish Days provided enough of a breath of fresh air to offset the lingering smoky conditions.