Growing Native

VOICEOVER: This week on Growing Native.

JAMES MADISON: The tribe calls upon us to do these pieces that represents our people and our culture.

JASON GOBIN: New Journey is a way of getting back to the ways of our ancestors.

The canoes prior to contact, were our vehicles.

Our ancestors traveled all these waterways daily.

A canoe was their most prized possession.

ANNOUNCER: (speaks Native language) Welcome to Squaxin Island, Canoe Journey 2012, (speaks Native language).

NATASHA: (speaks Native language) JERRY MENINICK: This was ingrained into their life, body, and soul.

When that was no longer there, some of them went out to search for that.

Many never came back.

(singing in Native language) TONY FARQUE: When we came up here, our botanist said, "Tony, there's camas at Gordon Mountain."

I said, "How can that be, it's so high up?"

Came back, it's just, it's flourished in here.

CHRIS: So all your work is inspired by your place and your culture and your tribe and your history.

LILLIAN PITT: Yep.

CHRIS: Yeah.

LILLIAN: Without it I would be nothing.

(singing in Native language) (drumming) (upbeat Native American music) CHRIS EYRE: Centuries after the first Europeans landed on this continent, tribal people continue to adapt, change, and survive.

(upbeat Native American music) These are the people's stories of reclaiming old ways for health today.

This is Growing Native.

(upbeat piano music) CHRIS: The Co Salish people have inhabited the nearly 300 mile stretch of the Columbia River, from the mouth of the Snake River to the Pacific Ocean, for at least 10,000 years.

For Co Salish tribes, water means life.

For generations, tribes lived along the waterways and traveled in dugout canoes made from cedar wood.

Oceans and rivers provided food and access to trading routes.

The forested landscape provided an abundance of natural resources.

Over time, travel by canoe was replaced by faster, more modern transportation.

As Washington State prepared for its centennial celebration in 1989, tribal elders looked back at their own history and what important life ways were being lost.

A decision was made to bring back those traditional, hand-made canoes by hosting a Paddle to Seattle.

That first year, 13 tribes and 18 canoes arrived at Shilshole Bay where they hadn't landed in more than a century.

For more than 20 years, canoe journey has become an annual event, with tribes paddling from every direction towards their final port of call.

Native families gather along each resting point to support their loved ones in an often arduous trek.

(chanting in Native language) It takes some tribes over 40 days to paddle to their final destination.

Stops for rest or sleep are made at traditional Native landing spots or on reservations, where the host tribe provides food and lodging for their visitor.

(chanting) On this day, canoes from the north have stopped on the Tulalip Reservation, about 40 miles north of Seattle and 105 miles from their final stop in Olympia.

Tribal members like Tulalip's Jason Gobin help prepare other canoe pullers for the next leg of the journey.

JASON GOBIN: Then we'll catch the flood at 2:00.

Should around 2: 00 be heading back up 'cause there's gonna be a little wind tomorrow, too.

It's gonna be tide and the wind in our face tomorrow.

Headwind straight ahead, yeah.

CHRIS: Golban oversees the Tulalip canoes, both in their preparation for the event and as an escort during it.

He's been part of the canoe journey as a puller since 1997, and even met his future wife during the journey in 1999.

JASON: Canoe journey is a way of giving back to the ways of our ancestors.

For here on Puget Sound and on the west coast, the canoes prior to contact were our vehicles.

It wasn't open trails across the land here.

It was a lot of heavy timber, so our ancestors traveled all of these waterways daily.

A canoe was their most prized possession because it was their way of getting out and hunting and gathering and doing the things that they needed to do and traveling between villages to village.

The journey is demonstration that the culture is still alive here within the Puget Sound.

And that it's not something that's ever gonna go away.

It's here forever.

CHRIS: You have so many young people that are in the canoes.

What does it mean to the young people?

JASON: I think it's a way of really reconnecting and I think it really brings the culture into a relative place for them, because they're here amongst everybody else on the journey.

A lot of them, it's a way of healing also, and getting out here on the water, because the water is a very spiritual place, and they may be having troubles in their lives, or, I think the journey helps them kinda cope with that and bring them to a positive place for some of them, and it's just a way of bringing out the pride in their culture and in their people.

CHRIS: At night, the host tribes share their traditional songs, dance, and stories with their guests, a celebration that often lasts late into the night.

(traditional Native American music) MAN: Get along, Tulalip.

TEAM: Ready!

MAN: Grab a side.

Go, we gotta move.

CHRIS: The next morning, canoe journey continues bright and early, with each canoe following traditional protocol, asking the host tribe's chief for permission to leave their shore.

MELVIN SHELDON, JR.: We wanna take this time to thank you.

Thank you for stopping by Tulalip.

We know that you came from way up north there, that you came here to share again, as we have done through the years together.

We enjoy your company.

We enjoy our relationship with you.

It's like you are Tulalip family.

Please go with the tide, permission to leave, and come back soon, we'll see you down south.

(speaks Native language) (chanting) (upbeat piano music) CHRIS: Ahead for the pullers is an eight to 14 hour day of paddling.

(upbeat piano music) Through the generations, tribes passed down important stories, ceremonies, and life lessons through an oral tradition.

Starting in 1894, Co Salish children were required to attend school run by churches or the government.

Children were punished for speaking their native languages.

TEACHER: So our key thing here, the teaching that we're trying to get through is that when you're at each station, there are many different teachings that we're trying to pass on to you.

CHRIS: That has changed as tribes now embrace their language and teach it to adults and children.

For more then 15 years, the Tulalip language department has given children the opportunity to learn and practice what their elders almost lost.

At first glance, this camp looks no different than any other summer camp.

A little singing, practicing for a play, even a little time to catch up on gaming skills.

I learned quickly this was far from the case.

INSTRUCTOR: Let's see if anybody can write down the Lushootseed word for eagle.

CHRIS: Is that right?

YOUNG GIRL: I don't know.

CHRIS: Camp revolves around the traditional story that helps teach the language and tribal history to the campers.

(speaks Native language) NATASHA:: Good job.

A long time ago.

CHILDREN: A long time ago.

(speaks Native language) NATASHA: Yes!

CHRIS: Stories are acted out along with other activities like painting and cedar weaving.

Natasha Gobin has been teaching at the camp for more than 12 years.

(speaks Native language) (speaks Native language) CHRIS: When you see all these kids down here and uh, you recognize that you're giving them a piece of themselves back possibly through language, how does that make you feel?

(speaks Native language) CHRIS: I've never seen so many children excited about learning something old.

It's part of an overall commitment by the tribe to make every home, workplace, and schoolroom a Lushootseed-rich environment.

DAVE SIENKO: So what this is is a Nintendo DSi.

CHRIS: Okay.

DAVE: And it's a handheld gaming console that all the kids already use on a regular basis pretty much, and what we're able to do right now is use the function called the Pictochat, and so it's like we're all in a little chatroom, and so we can write notes to each other.

And what I'm doing right now is showing them the picture of (speaks Native language), which is the blue heron, and we're seeing who can write that word down the fastest, because as soon as they put it into the chatroom, everybody can see who's writing the word down.

CHRIS: That's great!

So you're using the Nintendo DS as a language learning tool in this case.

DAVE: Correct, right.

CHRIS: That's great.

DAVE: And then we also have a lot of other things on here.

I have videos on here that we've done over the years.

We have elder interviews.

We can also have various games on here as well and flash cards and picking the correct, kind of a multiple choice quiz, and it's all done in the language.

CHRIS: I'm gonna win!

I'm writing the word quicker than anybody else.

Somebody give me a clue.

(drumming) (singing in a Native language) CHRIS: I was particularly impressed with the wide range of strategies the camp used to teach and engage the children.

You could see a genuine excitement in the kids as they develop the language base throughout the day.

Let me see you catch a crab.

There's a whole bunch of 'em here.

Hold your hand like this so we can see it.

BOY: Ow ow, stop pinching me!

Ow, it hurts, ow!

Ow, he's pinching me, ow!

CHRIS: Clearly, I wouldn't make it as a camp counselor, but these kids will, and pass on a vital Co Salish link that was almost broken just three generations ago.

(traditional Native American music) (ethereal electronic music) CHRIS: There's no word for art in Salish languages.

The closest meaning is the word (speaks Native language), which expresses transforming something that merely exists into something of sublime beauty and meaning.

Across the Tulalip reservation, there is a whole lot of (speaks Native language) going on.

From the museum to the casino, to the local Cabela's store, Tulalip culture is represented through carving, weaving, and painting.

A lot of this work comes from cedar.

Cedar trees are known as the tree of life in Co Salish culture.

Like with water, the survival of people in this region depends on respecting the environment around them.

The cedar tree provides everything.

Canoes, paddles, houses, clothing, masks, and much more.

But I wanna tell you the story of one cedar tree in particular.

Tulalip master carvers James Madison and his uncle Joe Gobin have been tasked to find a tree for house posts within the new casino.

They found one that had been blown down in a national forest near Derrington, Washington.

For eight years, the carvers struggled with paperwork and red tape before finally gaining permission to use the tree.

Unfortunately now, they couldn't find it.

JAMES MADISON: And so as we were driving down this one mile road, as we drove by I had this really strong feeling inside, kinda like when an ancestor passes away or something, and that new ranger, she suggested that we get out and walk around.

And so, Joe and the ranger actually started walking more forward, and I just kinda went back to where I had that feeling.

I started to kinda, scurrying around the brush, trying to find this tree, you know, the tag.

I looked, I started finding blue tape, I started screaming as loud as I can, and we were just excited because, you know, this is what started our journey.

It was meant to be.

CHRIS: What was meant to be was a renaissance of traditional woodcarving by the Tulalip, and some amazing pieces were created as a result of this one cedar tree.

JAMES: The tribe called upon us to do these large commercial pieces that represents our people and our culture.

It's very important what we're doing right now to keep our culture alive.

Cedar takes care of us, and that's one of the reasons why we do artwork out of this tree.

It's to give it back life because it gives us so much life.

We use it for our basketry, you know, the bark.

We use it for canoes, we use it for artwork.

We use this for paint.

There's so many things that it gives to us, and the way that we give it back is by giving it life and creating a spirit out of that tree.

(soaring, dramatic music) CHRIS: Oh wow, look at this, this beautiful.

JAMES: Thank you.

CHRIS: And this is cedar.

JAMES: Old growth red cedar.

CHRIS: Wow, can you tell me about the design?

JAMES: Yeah, this represents getting your spirit power from the water.

This is an octopus and there's a man that's intertwined in his legs and the octopus is not attacking him, it's actually embracing him and giving him his power from the water.

This is a story that my grandfather told me and my dad has told me over and over and over and over again.

It's a person that's trying to embed your history, your culture, who you are into you as a young child every day.

CHRIS: Wow, this is beautiful.

JOE GOBIN: We're doing for the admin buildings that's gonna go outside right in front of the doors.

CHRIS: And can you tell me the story behind this piece?

JOE: I wanted to do something that represents our tribe.

Obviously the killer whale is a symbol of our tribe, so I did my version of the whale, and I put eagles on the fins to represent that, ever since I was a little guy, there's always been eagle that sits on top of the tree right outside our buildings at every gathering, so I wanted to kinda represent that.

The man with his hands up is a welcome.

CHRIS: So this finished piece will...

I think outlive both of us.

JOE: Oh yeah.

CHRIS: What does that mean to you?

JOE: Oh, it means quite a bit 'cause doing this job, what I like to see is preserving our culture and hopefully somebody in the next generations'll see the carvings and they'll start making their own.

(wood tapping) (dramatic music) CHRIS: Mike, this is an amazing tribal enterprise.

The Tulalip tribe, your tribe has said hey, the arts are important culturally and to the people.

MIKE GOBIN: Yeah, well, we didn't have any way of venting, if you will, with our artwork.

All the artwork tells a story, every piece has a story.

It's not something you just sit down and make.

There's a story that goes with everything, and it's from the heart.

CHRIS: At Tulalip Tribal Design, the legacy of this one tree continues, as does a cultural tradition that was nearly lost.

(chanting) CHRIS: Back to canoe journey.

On this day, tribes travel through Puget Hundreds of village sites once existed through these channels, surrounded by heavily forested terrain.

While the environment around the canoes is much different, it doesn't make the journey any less spiritual for the pullers, as they travel the same routes their ancestors once did.

POLLY DEBARI: Mostly I do it because it's healing and I like the, I have met so many friends and so many people and it's good connections for, not just me but for my children and one of the things that I really think is gonna be important in any country is at some point in time all these children that you see running around on journeys playing with each other, they're gonna be sitting on council, they're gonna be sitting on fisheries commissions.

They're gonna be in DC, meeting with legislators and whatever, and I think they're gonna be able to communicate better with each other because of tribal journeys.

They're gonna become one.

COURTNEY FINKBONNER: We feel good pulling out on the water.

That you're excited that journeys are here, because you get to feel that power, the spirit of the canoe, and paddle.

And on that water, it's just so nice and calming, and it's just really good to be out there.

CHRIS: Wow, that's awesome.

COURTNEY: Usually, you'll pray on the water, because that, it's a ceremonial thing, like you pray on the water.

And then also like, it's not easy, when like your arms will start hurting, and if you're not sitting right, your legs will cramp up.

It's really hard, the water is not predictable at all, but you can, like say, "Oh, I'm gonna do it for this paddle."

So each paddle you do, you'll think their name.

Like this is for my family, or this is for my mom, my dad, my grandma, just like you can do it for anyone.

Dedicating the pull to someone is that like, you're in pain, but you love someone so much that you'll stay in pain for them.

That's how important they are to you.

But it's really for yourself, to help your soul and your spirit to get better.

You wanna leave all the negativity and the madness and stuff onshore, you don't want that on the canoe.

You want the positive, the good-hearted, and good-minded.

We're all one, we're all one heart and one mind and one paddle.

CHRIS: Canoe journey brings tribal nations together, from all over the Northwest, just as the waterways have for centuries.

Along the Columbia River plateau, tribes along the river with a history as rich as any place in the country.

Traveling from the East, they pull their canoes directly above an indigenous landmark that's not only beautiful, but home to an ancient native fishery.

FILM NARRATOR: We're gonna start in now, and try to give you a panorama of this fish industry here.

Starting on this side, where we're looking to Washington across the Columbia, and now we're coming back in, and you can notice all of the, farther end of the falls there, that there are all some of 50, 75 Indians over there, catching fish, and then you come over here, and you get a closer picture of it.

JUDGE TED STRONG: So while it was a gathering place, many people, all of our tribal people gathered there, and we welcomed visiting tribes from around the Northwest.

My earliest recollections were, as a kid, it's a fun place to be.

Now we would arrive, all of the people would arrive with big trucks, loaded to the top, with all of their belongings, including dogs and cats, and we would stay there, from maybe mid-summer through late fall, and the men that go down and catch salmon every day, for us boys, our job was to pack the salmon from the scaffolds and gunnysacks, back up to the cutting and drying sheds, where our moms, and aunts, grandmas, and sisters would prepare them.

Everything was designed for consumptive use in the cold winter months ahead.

CHRIS: Archaeology shows native people lived and fished Celilo Falls more than 11,000 years ago.

Prior to Euro-American settlement, Celilo was the center of a vast trade network that stretched from present-day British Columbia to California, and East to the Great Plains.

During the height of the salmon runs, thousands gathered to fish, trade, socialize, and participate in ceremonies.

JERRY MENINICK: I grew up there.

My father fished, many of us who were too small to be going out there, because of the danger out there in the falls, so once the fish was harvested, they were brought to shore, and then there was us younger ones that went there, and carried them back to the villages.

(laughs) So we had our jobs.

CHRIS: So you were the heroes when you brought them back?

JERRY: Oh yeah (laughs).

The sight itself was extremely sacred to our people.

It not only provided us with the food, but it also provided us with the means of an economy, where we bartered, traded.

(Newsreel music) FILM NARRATOR: Harnessing the Columbia River, the new Dallas Dam spells the doom of a great and ancient Indian fishing hole, at the foot of Celilo Falls, Oregon.

For the dam, which is 15 miles below, will back up the river's waters, until they submerge the rich, salmon fishing spot.

No more will the Indians of the region risk their lives, as they have here for centuries, to net the Columbia's horde of silver salmon.

JUDGE STRONG: I was 10 years old when Celilo Falls was flooded in 1957, and they began destroying these places like Celilo Falls.

I believe it was intentional, it had to be, and ever since that time, there's been a huge effort to try and replace that lost fishery.

CHRIS: Was anybody that you knew there, the day that this thing started to fill up?

Do you recall anybody going to see, and watch that, and mourn that?

JERRY: There must have been about 500 of us there, standing on the shore.

There was a ceremony, our elder and several of the other elders, they sang songs.

Then the signal was given, by the corps of engineers, and then a series of blasts occurred on the island.

These explosions, and we stood there for about a couple hours, and all of a sudden, the water leveled out, and there was no more falls.

EMILY WASHINES: All right under this location, there would have been falls here, here, here, across that bridge over there is where my father used to harvest eel-like lamprey.

Not being able to carry on what, or exactly what our fathers and grandfathers did, not being able to see the same river that they saw, not being able to see the same falls, it definitely feels like a disheartening thing.

But we always grew up knowing its importance, we always grew up understanding the importance of salmon, and our inter-relationship with it.

From my earliest memories, we were sitting at a ceremonial table, and being told how important salmon were to us, the foods.

And how much we have to protect the resources for those not yet born.

And we know what this area holds, we are always taught that our elder spirits never die, as long as we continue to do what they taught us.

So in a lot of ways, that's what our people do.

They, we continue on as much as possible.

We continue making the nets, fishing on this river, fishing the areas that we can.

CHRIS: On the opposite side of the train bridge, at Celilo Falls, one native couple has made an international business on the very land where their ancestors once fished.

That's the bridge that the train goes over?

BRIGETTE SCOTT: When I was eight or nine years old, we were cutting up fish, we were filleting fish to dry, and my grandma said, "You need to learn how to do this correctly, "because one day it's going to take care of you."

CHRIS: Salmon is one of four sacred foods to tribes in the Pacific Northwest, that sustain body, spirit, and culture.

They're not only a source of nourishment, but serve as a spiritual connection to the land and water.

For Brigette Scott and her husband Sean, this connection became a business.

BRIGETTE: My uncle had given me maps of our fishing sights, and we had 23 specific sights that were registered to our family, so then I start coming down and visiting all these fishing sites, and then instead of saying, "You need to get off of my site" I just said, "I just wanna introduce myself."

And you know, "This is my family."

And then what happened was, people start giving me fish.

And I had thousands of pounds of fish to work with.

That's pretty much how it started.

CHRIS: Brigette's store-front shop for Salmon King Fisheries is on the Warm Springs Reservation.

About 90 miles south of Celilo.

Here, a modern enterprise ships all over the world, behind the two most traditional staples in the region.

Bead work and fishing.

BRIGETTE: We are a tribal-member-owned fish store, and we carry smoked fish, canned fish, frozen filets, and fresh fish during the season.

Everything in here is pretty much made by myself, and tribal members.

CHRIS: Let's eat.

BRIGETTE: (laughs) Okay.

(upbeat guitar music) CHRIS: Sockeye, steelhead, Chinook.

BRIGETTE: Mm hmm, and sturgeon.

CHRIS: And sturgeon.

(upbeat guitar music) That's what I came to the Northwest for.

(upbeat guitar music) I think my favorite is the sturgeon.

BRIGETTE: It's good.

CHRIS: All great, really good.

You and Sean are doing an amazing thing, to bring salmon back to all the people here on your reservation, and we had a great time with you today.

Not to mention we got to eat salmon.

BRIGETTE: Thank you, it's been an honor.

CHRIS EYRE: Just up the hill from Brigette's shop, at the Warm Springs Kah-Nee-Ta Spa and Resort, another descendant of the inhabitants of the Columbia River carries on their memory through her amazing art.

CHRIS: These are beautiful, can I look at them?

LILLIAN PITT: Sure.

I start out with clay, and then it's, they make a mold of it, and then cast it in glass, and it all melts.

And then they clean it, and then they acid etch it, and then it's finished, takes about three weeks.

CHRIS: Can I touch one?

LILLIAN: Sure, please do.

CHRIS: I'll be careful.

LILLIAN: They're made of New Zealand lead crystal, so they're 33-- CHRIS: Wow, heavy.

LILLIAN: 33% heavier than regular glass.

CHRIS: And even the eye has the detail of-- LILLIAN: Of a shell, yeah.

CHRIS: Of a shell.

LILLIAN: I like using nature, and then seeing it get captured forever.

CHRIS: And what is this piece's name?

LILLIAN: This piece is a humble shadow spirit.

And all the shadow spirits are based on the petroglyphs from the Columbia River Gorge.

CHRIS: And is that your inspiration?

LILLIAN: Yes, yeah.

In my ancestry is, all my inspiration from the petroglyphs, the legends, and the beaded bags and woven bags.

And coyote and animals, and all of that.

But just, it just gives, gives me the oomph to continue it for 30 years.

CHRIS: And this is your work too, over here, right?

LILLIAN: Yeah, oh.

CHRIS: This is beautiful.

LILLIAN: Thank you, thank you, this is again lead crystal, and the title is She Who Watches, or as we call her, (Native language), and she overlooked the village where my great-great-grandmother lived in the Columbia River and she's been there for thousands and thousands of years and so she has watched many people.

CHRIS: And so this is actually your rendition of her on the rock.

So all your work is inspired by your place, and your culture and your tribe, and your history.

LILLIAN: Yep, without it I would be nothing.

(dramatic music) CHRIS: Less than 10 miles down the hill from Kah-Nee-Ta, Lillian grew up in an area affectionately labeled, Hollywood.

Primarily because of its complete contrast from the California locale with the same name.

Lillian and her brother Louie, describe the Hollywood scene, complete with outhouses, and carrying water through the harshest winters as character-builders in their life.

CHRIS: Out of these wonderful beginnings, you became an artist, a renowned artist.

And your brother Louie, very successful in the administration of the tribe.

LOUIE PITT: Sure, I'm the Director of Government Affairs and Planning, and it's probably the biggest challenge is just to keep our Indian-ness there, and that's what we're real proud of Lillian, and her work that she keeps our Indian ways in all of her work.

CHRIS: And you guys grew up right here in Hollywood.

LILLIAN: Yeah (laughs).

(epic music) CHRIS: As another day of canoe journey comes to an end, the canoes land at Alki Beach in west Seattle.

Alki was a celebrated gathering place for Co Salish, particularly during peak fishing season.

(speaking Native language) At the same point where their ancestors once did the same, each tribe's canoe follows traditional protocol before coming ashore.

This code of hospitality includes travelers stopping just off the foreign landing spot, and raising their paddle to signify peaceful intent.

A leader then calls a greeting to the local tribe, and asks permission to land in their territory.

In turn, the host tribe invites the visitors onshore where they provide food and shelter.

(cheering) From the Southern Oregon coast, canoes from the confederated tribes of Grand Ronde, begin their nine day journey up the Willamette River, towards the port of Olympia.

But canoe journey is far from the only revitalization effort within the Grand Ronde.

In the Willamette National Forest, tribal members are working to return a nearly extinct food source that once was a main staple in their people's diet.

A lily-like plant called camas, produced as much as 60% of the food for some tribes in the area.

High in protein and carbohydrates, the plant all but disappeared over the last hundred and fifty years.

But a collaboration between the Grand Ronde tribe in Oregon, and the National Forest Service, has helped bring back this essential part of the traditional native diet.

DAVID LEWIS: This place is called Gordon Meadows, it's about 4,000 feet in the Oregon Cascades, and it's amazing to think that people intentionally brought resources up here.

TONY FARQUE: This camas was brought here because people wanted it to be here, it doesn't fly through the wind, it doesn't hitchhike on birds, or elk or deer.

These resources are resilient.

When I started to work here over 30 years ago, this was heavily grazed by cattle.

This time of year, you'd come in here, this was a dust bowl full of cows, cow manure, and flies.

We worked with the grazing permitees, and in three years they were removed.

And we didn't know there was camas here.

A couple of years after the cows were gone, we came up here and our botanist said, "Tony, there's camas at Gordon Meadows."

And I said, "How can that be, it's so high up."

And it came back.

It's just, it's flourished in here.

(epic music) CHRIS: Wow.

TONY: Nice huh.

CHRIS: This is beautiful.

So, what is this place?

DAVID: So this place is the south fork of the Santiam River, which feeds into the Atlantic.

And the tribes lived here, and harvested camas here, for many, many centuries.

Tribes were removed to Grand Ronde in 1856, they were finally terminated at one point in 1956.

They were restored in 1983, and since that time, for the last 30 years, we've been working on restoration of the tribe, restoration of cultural traditions, and so camas is a big part of that.

TONY: We started working on huckleberries, we've been working on camas restoration.

David knows we've been working with cedar, availability for the tribes for their traditional canoe projects, hazel for basketry, bow, staves from yew wood.

It's been quite something.

And you know, we found that once we restored those traditional resources, that's just the first step.

Once the people come back to the landscape, and we have resumption of traditional cultural practices, restoration finally is complete.

CHRIS: What strikes me is that shouldn't be a novel concept.

That model is so organic to both parties, and it's what's good for all of us.

TONY: And it works.

CHRIS: That's great, that's great.

So what is this camas I keep hearing about?

DAVID: Camas is a lily-bulb plant that grows right up here on the prairie, and we're gonna go harvest some right now.

(guitar plucking) CHRIS: Walking through this field is like walking through an agricultural history for the tribes in the region.

Camas has been harvested here for thousands of years, with the same families digging the same sections of the field.

This was a particular advantage, because while the blue flower plants are a food source, the white bloom version were nicknamed Death Camas.

Let's just say that's not the kind you wanna cook and eat.

TONY: Besides this being a lovely field, we're out here looking for camas.

It was a complex carbohydrate, which provided the basis of subsistence in the Pacific Northwest tribes.

Very, very nutritious food.

When Oregon State University tested it, along with other carbohydrates, it rated right at the top, for the amount of energy it produces, for the amount of energy it takes to traditionally process it.

CHRIS: And David, what significance does it have to your people?

DAVID: Well, it was the main staple, people would harvest it throughout the summertime, store it in the winter time, they would trade it with people up north for salmon.

And so it was probably the main food for this area for upwards of 10,000 years, and harvested in the same spot.

Camas is the symbol for California people, really.

And we're digging it right now.

So traditionally, people would have what's called a digging stick, it's made out of a piece of ironwood, they would have a piece of horn on there to make a lever, and so people would use that almost like a shovel, to leverage up the dirt, so they could find the bulbs underneath.

CHRIS: And this is, this is a deer horn.

DAVID: They would fire-harden these things, a piece of ironwood they would fire-harden it, and they would leverage up the dirt around the camas, there we go.

WOMAN: Nice one.

CHRIS: So that's the camas.

And it's good for eating, huh?

DAVID: Yeah, I wouldn't eat it right now, though.

We normally have to cook it before to make it palatable for humans.

CHRIS: And why don't you eat it now?

TONY: If you eat it without properly cooking it, it will give you gastronomic distress that will remain legendary in your family for decades.

CHRIS: Tony's referring to Louis and Clark, who gorged on the sweet-tasting bulb on an 1805 trip, and barely able to move for a week as a result of their sickness.

CHRIS: Can I see the oven?

You just mentioned that people would cook it.

DAVID: Yeah, so we have the oven right over here, this is a traditional Kalipee oven.

They would cover the whole oven, and let it cook for a couple days, and you can get a batch of camas cooked all at one time.

CHRIS: Wow, two days to cook?

TONY: Earth ovens have been documented all over the world and we did some archeological excavation here with the tribes, we came down on the edge of a camas oven, and found the lid of it, and then documented that to be 6,000 years old.

CHRIS: 6,000 years?

TONY: Yes, sir.

CHRIS: Wow.

TONY: That's about 400 grandmothers ago.

CHRIS: Wow, 400 grandmothers?

TONY: That's a long time.

CHRIS: That's a language we understand.

Back on the Grand Ronde reservation, David and his crew took me through the next steps in camas preparation.

JULIE BROWIN: So we've dug the camas, and now what we're gonna do is prepare it for cooking.

And the first thing we're gonna wanna do, is soak 'em really well.

It's gonna soak for about six hours.

We don't have that kind of time, so you wash them, rinse them, wash them, rinse them.

CHRIS: And pull the roots off, is what I just saw you do.

JULIE: We cap both ends like that, like you would with strawberries.

Very nice.

CHRIS: Is that good?

JULIE: You've got a job.

Greg, why don't you start with the smaller leaves.

CHRIS: And these are the, not the elms, these are the-- DAVID: Ash leaves.

CHRIS: Ash leaves.

DAVID: So we'll just place them on top there.

CHRIS: Okay.

DAVID: On top of those hot rocks.

CHRIS: If you hear any creaking, those are my bones and joints.

JULIE: We're ready to place the camas.

Chris, you want the honor?

CHRIS: Okay, so I'm just going to place it on top of the leaves.

JULIE: That would be good.

CHRIS: I don't wanna ruin the meal here, so tell me if I'm not doing it right.

JULIE: I would keep it all centralized together, as much as possible.

CHRIS: Keep it central, so in the middle here?

JULIE: Yeah.

Understand that we would have much more camas than what's represented here.

Okay Greg, let's finish it off, go ahead and do the last layer.

GREG: We'll add the maple leaf.

CHRIS: Okay, so do you put dirt on top?

GREG: Yeah, we'll put some sand, a layer of sand on it, and then some soil.

(light folk music) DAVID: So we have our finished camas here.

It's been caramelized, and so it's ready to eat, it's sweet, the starch has been turned into a sugar.

And so it's very good.

CHRIS: This is my favorite part, getting to eat.

I've been waiting three days for this.

Do I use a fork or just my hands?

DAVID: You may use your hands, it's fine.

JULIE: It's more fun to eat with your hands.

My grandmother always said.

CHRIS: So just dip in and try one?

DAVID: Go ahead.

CHRIS: Okie dokie.

JULIE: There you go.

CHRIS: That's a nice one.

JULIE: That's a nice one, it's nice and dark.

CHRIS: She saw that one and said, "Ooh, that's a good one."

(groans with pleasure) It's sweet.

DAVID: Yeah, this is our best time of the year.

CHRIS: Well, it was well worth the wait.

And thank you for taking me harvesting in the camas fields here in Oregon.

DAVID: It was a lot of fun, thank you.

(cheering and clapping) CHRIS: Port of Olympia, the final port of call for 104 canoes that have traveled for up to 40 days over hundreds of miles.

ANNOUNCER: We're very glad to see you.

You have arrived, you have arrived.

Woo!

CHRIS: They are welcomed by over 10,000 spectators and the song and dance of the host tribe, Squaxin Island.

ANNOUNCER: We can see the love they have for the water, and now they're digging so strong.

We got nations from all over Western Washington, Eastern Washington, Northern Vancouver, Canada.

All over (Native language) that are here today to answer this great call that Squaxin put out on their canoes.

One of our seven sacred inlets of the Squaxin Island people.

(Native language) we'd like to thank you for paddling to our country, to our hereditary lands, bringing your families, your elders and your children here as well.

(speaking Native language) (cheering and clapping) CHRIS: Deborah, Mel, can you tell me in '89, how all this started?

MELVIN SHELDON, JR.: What I remember is that there was a desire to celebrate the centennial of Washington State, and what better way than to have our canoes paddle to Seattle, and begin that journey and, a journey of remembrance, and it's remembering so we don't forget.

The treaty that was established, the statehood, and that we can celebrate yet remember that there's a lot of work to be done by not only the tribes working with the state and other agencies and such.

DEBORAH PARKER: And I think it's a time for us to let others know that we are alive, that these are our waterways, and that we have a spiritual connection to them, not just a visual connection.

But we are spiritually tied to the water, to the land.

And it's just time for the others to know that this, this is our way of life.

CHRIS: Older than America.

DEBORAH: Yes.

MELVIN: This goes back thousands of years, the mode of transportation that we used back then, and are using today, and again to remember so we don't forget.

I, for some reason, was drawn to be a commercial fisherman and I was not raised on the water, but I was drawn to it, so I believe it goes deep, and what it may do and reawaken things in our children.

And they may not understand it, but it's going to be a good thing for them, as they go on in life.

DEBORAH: And there's no other time during the year where I feel so alive, than when I'm on the waters, and when I get back to the camp, and we sing our songs, we circle up, we share stories, and we just continue the strength that we have that's inherently, and definitely, even last night, the dreams that I had, just tells me I'm on the right path, when you're here celebrating with your other relatives, and other canoe families.

It's not other place that I know I would rather be.

ANNOUNCER: (Native language ) Welcome our other relatives here.

We want to thank you for your youth I see in your canoe today, for the mighty paddlers that they are today, and what they're going to turn into, our leaders tomorrow.

(Native language) CHRIS: After making a pass, the canoes gather just off-shore.

As they have every stop on the journey, the tribes come forward.

Those who came from the furthest away are first to ask permission to come ashore.

(cheering) ANNOUNCER: Thank you very much for letting us dance on your land, and we will dance hard this week, if you feed us.

(laughter) (drums and chanting) CHRIS: He wasn't kidding about dancing all week.

Journey landing is just the start of a week-long pot latch protocol.

With all the tribes that participated, sharing their traditions and culture throughout the week.

DANCERS: Welcome to Squaxin Island.

(cheering and drumming).

CHRIS: I'm not much of a singer or dancer, but I can never pass up a good Indian market, and this one didn't disappoint.

Something like this, where do you find the blue deer?

SELLER: Actually the deer is dyed, what is been processed.

CHRIS: Okay.

(upbeat music) MERCHANT: That's original, it came up about 15 years ago.

My mother and, I didn't know about the spider, until my mom told me about it, and she said, you know, that's the mother spider.

That's where we get our technique of weaving.

The chief robes, and all that stuff.

CHRIS: This is Ronald, and you know we're Facebook friends, which means we just met in person.

CHRIS: Well, I'm really thankful today we're in the Pacific Northwest, because if we were in the Northern Plains, I know what that would be.

Yeah, German Shepherd, (laughs) Coyote.

CHRIS: Now, that looks like house paint, I say that's poodle.

This is your movie collection.

RONALD HUNTINGBEAR: Right, and I have one that's probably familiar to you.

You may have seen this one, you know anything about this one?

CHRIS: This one?

No, I was, people associate me with this, I'm actually from the wolf pack, I'm one of the wolf pack guys.

And of course, you can't have any Indian film collection without-- RONALD: Billy Jack.

CHRIS: Billy Jack, we should reenact the one scene.

RONALD: Yeah, I guess I'm Billy Jack.

Where's my Billy Jack hat?

Well this will have to do right here, right?

It's close enough, all right, close enough.

Chris, I'm gonna take my left foot, and put it in your right ear, and you can't do a thing about it.

That's Billy Jack.

CHRIS: That was good.

RONALD: Was that okay?

(lively music) CHRIS: Hi, how are you?

KATHEY ERVIN: Fine, thanks.

CHRIS: Hello, my name is Chris.

KATHEY: Hi Chris.

CHRIS: Can I sit with you?

KATHEY: You sure may.

CHRIS: Now what are you doing here?

KATHEY: I'm working on a conical hat, fully twined, or partially twined actually.

CHRIS: Can you take me through how you do that?

KATHEY: Well, it's, it's plated out this base with western red cedar, and then I've got the yellow cedar twining, so this is all yellow cedar, this lighter stuff.

And each row is woven and twined, woven and twined, all the way down.

I've been making baskets for 17 years, so, and I just recently started, started doing all the patterning and fancy work.

CHRIS: That's beautiful, and it has the turtles around the bottom.

KATHEY: This is, this is actually my personal hat, and that says Wyandotte, is the name of the tribe I'm a member of.

CHRIS: And this right here, what is this for?

KATHEY: It's my spray bottle, so I-- CHRIS: Oh.

KATHEY: I just keep my cedar damp here.

(laughs) CHRIS: Just a little.

KATHEY: On warm days, that's right.

CHRIS: Keeps you cooled off.

And so you get the cedar wet in here.

KATHEY: That's right, looks like leather.

Hasn't it, the yellow cedar does have a leather-like feel to it, especially when it's wet.

And it smells very good.

CHRIS: It smells different than when it's drier.

KATHEY: Yeah, but the yellow cedar will keep that fragrance too, like on the roses, you can smell.

This is probably a month old.

CHRIS: Wow, isn't that cool.

KATHEY: And it'll have that same fragrance.

CHRIS: Look at that, it's bark.

And what are these, with the straps, backpacks.

KATHEY: The backpacks, uh huh.

CHRIS: You could put that on a bike.

KATHEY: They wear very nicely.

CHRIS: On your back, you could put this on your front.

KATHEY: You can go to the beach and collect clams, and put them all in, and hose them all off in the basket, it's not gonna hurt it at all.

CHRIS: That's great, I'll have to come back for that later.

(drumming and chanting) CHRIS: I don't know this song, but it feels right.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, but this journey showed me so many things that I didn't know existed in my own backyard.

The tribes of this region bear a resemblance to the very salmon they hold with a spiritual reverence.

The life cycle of a salmon is remarkable.

Hatching, growing, traveling to the sea, and returning years later to the same spot to lay its eggs.

These tribes, like the salmon, have an everlasting connection to their homeland.

Despite traveling across the region for hunting, gathering, or trading, they will return, and are returning now, like the salmon, to the ways of their ancestors.

On this journey, I've met some amazing elders and youth that are growing native, reviving old ways for health today.

There's a shared rhythm here, like the rippling water made by canoes and oars.

As tribes have done for generations.

I feel it in the carvings of three incredible artists, translating stories passed down from elders into amazing works of art.

I feel it in the passion of a tribe, working to return an essential plant to a place that once thrived, flourished, and nourished it's people.

I feel it in the work of a contemporary artist, who's inspired by the legends of her ancestors.

I feel it along a river, where traditions that were lost are found, and carried on by the next generation.

I feel it in the youth, who take pride in learning what their grandparents were once forbidden to.

Their influence takes root in their minds, and is passed on to their own children and grandchildren.

And most of all, I feel it in the water.

Canoes from dozens of tribes pulling through the waterways of their people, in the same manner they have for thousands of years.

These are the water people, the people of the salmon.

It's their relationship with their environment, that has allowed them to carry on their culture through the generations, and to reclaim traditions of food from the land and the sea, that keep them in balance and harmony today.

This communal song and rhythm they share has carried them together for centuries.

And together, they work to make sure these ways survive, for the health and happiness of the future.

(drumming) CHRIS: Watch this one.

Hey, that's good, how'd that happen?

So what is this cannimis that I keep hearing about?

TONY: Camas is a lily bulb, that-- CHRIS: What is it?

TONY: Camas.

CHRIS: Camas.

DAVID: To that guy, said to us, "You got any cannabis?"

CHRIS: You know the translation of this is probably, Askin' to sit on a guys' motorcycle.

JAMES: That's right.

CHRIS: You're not supposed to do it.

JAMES: But I'm allowing you to pound on my baby.

(knocking) You wanna flick it a little bit more?

CHRIS: Okay, that's all I wanna do.

(laughs) Thanks, now you can fix it.

And then that cooks for how long?

JULIE: About three days.

CHRIS: About three days, wow.

We're gonna be awful hungry in three days.

(Native American music) VOICEOVER: Growing Native is available on DVD.

To order, visit shopvisionmaker.org, or call 877-868-2250.

(flute music) This program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, Tulalip Tribes, San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, and Morongo Band of Mission Indians.