Canoe Journey launches from Newberg

By Nicole Montesano

Smoke Signals staff writer

NEWBERG -- Giggling children spent the afternoon swimming and splashing in the river at Champoeg State Park Friday, July 24, after the Grand Ronde Canoe Family launched its journey from Newberg, marking the first local launch in several years. The trip was a short one, leaving them plenty of time for putting up tents, resting in the shade or playing in the water.

From there, the Canoe Family will make its way north to Nisqually, Washington, for Landing Day Friday, July 31.

It’s the first time Tribal member Andrew Freeman’s family has made the trip.

“We’re pretty stoked,” he said, standing on the floating dock at Champoeg overseeing the children. “We’ve been in the community for a while, we just haven’t made time for this, but now the kids are getting older.”

Nine-year-old Kaylee, his youngest, Isaac, 11, Riley, 14, and Cloey, 16, are busy making lifelong memories, Freeman said, while he and his wife, Brittany, are enjoying a relaxing experience.

“We live on the water, but we’re usually fishing,” Freeman said.

Isaac is learning to pull one of the canoes, while the girls are more focused on visiting their friends and enjoying being in community.

As a ceremonial fisher, Freeman said he has extensive safety training, so he was asked to operate one of the support boats while his wife is driving a trailer.

The support boats bring water to those who need it and carry extra pullers if someone in the canoes tires or needs to get out of the sun for a bit, he said.

“There are a lot of speed boats, so if we see one coming, we might get out in front of the canoes and shield them from the wake,” he said.

He said the experience will be life-changing for all of them, but especially for the kids, who he hopes are busy making lifelong memories of the trip.

Alice Martineau, whose late husband Joe was a longtime Tribal employee, is accompanying her 12-year-old granddaughter, Finley Olson (Anishinaabe), on the trip. Finley is wearing her grandfather’s canoe journey necklace, Martineau said, and making the journey in his memory.

“It was beautiful out on the water today and there was this heron following us,” she said. “It would land about 50 feet ahead of us and wait for us to catch up and then fly ahead.”

After spending the night at Champoeg Friday, the group planned to paddle to Boones Ferry Marina, then trailer the boats to Rooster Rock and paddle to Chinook Landing.