As the setting sun casts warm shadows over dozens of tents scattered across the grounds of the Lummi Nation School, a casual circle of drummers sings soulfully to the slow steady rhythm.
A woman hums along as she smooths an elder’s hair. Nearby kids play in the grass, and elders lounge and shift, trying to find a shady spot to keep out of the rapidly retiring sun.
They’ve all earned this leisurely hour after journeying in canoes for weeks, from various tribes along the Salish Sea and beyond, all the way to Lummi, the site of this year’s annual tribal canoe journey, the Paddle to Lummi.
