Canoe built by Capoeman with help from students welcomed in Kent

Friday, September 23, 2011 - 12:08

The Daily World

Quinault Master Carver Guy Capoeman has been working since the spring with youth from Taholah, Kent and Oakland, Calif., on a hand-carved canoe.

On Saturday, families, students, community members and leaders and elected officials gather to welcome the canoe to the O'Dell Center in Kent.

The 32-foot strip canoe is built from a Quinault cedar tree that was more than 1,000 years old. A carved eagle crests the canoe's bow.

Capoeman, master carver from the Quinault Nation, has been directing the project in conjunction with the Institute for Community Leadership. The primary purpose of the canoe project is education. The canoe is named "R.S. Capoeman" in honor of Randy Capoeman. The Institute for Community Leadership currently stewards a totem carved by Randy at its Kent campus.

The canoe will travel by trailer to schools around the Salish Sea and to the Bay Area in California, permitting diverse students and adults to learn of the role that tribes play in the protection of fish, rivers, the ocean, the forest and animals.

The Institute offers leadership classes to middle and senior high students in the states of Washington, Oregon and California to strengthen democracy and construct community. Both Randy Capoeman and Phillip Martin Jr. have served on the board of directors of the Institute for Community Leadership.