Voyaging for Future Generations

We are canoe and water people, both native and non-native spread across the Pacific and our surrounding shared waterways. There is a deep cultural and historical connection between Hawai’i, the San Juan Islands,  Vancouver Island, BC and near coastal islands.

 

We integrate the Hawai’ian sailing and paddling canoes into our experiential programs and projects on San Juan Island, Friday Harbor, WA to honor the history of Kanaka whose home is our home. What happens to the children and people on the shores of the Salish Sea, happens to the children and the peoples of Hawai’i nei.

 

The stories are interconnected within the current healing process of Coast Salish indigenous peoples, it is interconnected to the Hawai’ian story; and more importantly the unfolding of this story in the Salish Sea is rooted in Aloha and the unconditional love that binds us to our Island Earth, all living beings, the Universe, and the Great Spirit. We must all paddle the canoe forward with one mind and heart to navigate the challenges we face as humans.

 

Our vision for our voyaging society is to connect with the natural elements of the Salish Sea while discovering the richness of canoe culture, ocean travel and awareness, through voyaging, discovery and experiential education. We enter this mission with humility and reverence of our natural world, honoring Polynesian and Coast Salish knowledge and seek to better our understanding of past, present and future. To stand in solidarity with those that protect the sacred and honor our natural resources. Discovering the richness of wildlife, the water, the land, the trees, the elk, the eagles, the salmon, the orca, the communities, the people of today and the people who have come before.

 

Through voyaging we understand the importance of teamwork, community, and that each one of us is a leader and a contributor, providing assets and resources that help us all reach the next step. We discover what it means to live in the moment and disconnect from the stresses of modern life, as we stretch out beyond our comfort zone, to a place where land and ocean meet and possibilities arise...

 

Salish Sea Voyaging Society recognizes our basecamp operations, experiential  programs and projects take place on unceded aboriginal land belonging to the Coast Salish peoples of the San Juan Islands, including Samish, Lummi, Saanich (W̱SÁNEĆ), Songhee & Swinomish Nations.

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