At a glance
Our Canoe Family connects Native and non-Native students, tribal members, and UW staff through activities like paddle carving… Read full summary
- Funding received
- 2022-2023
- Small
- Awarded
- $5,000
- Funding partners
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- Services and Activities Fee (SAF)
Our Canoe Family connects Native and non-Native students, tribal members, and UW staff through activities like paddle carving and learning about the Canoe Movement. As we prepare for this summer’s tribal journey, we seek support for essential gear, canoe maintenance, and a trailer to ensure we are fully equipped and ready to participate.
Our Canoe Family with guidance from tribal elders and community members seeks to build meaningful connections between Native and non-Native students, tribal members of the area, and staff and faculty across the UW. We have done this so far through carving paddles, learning about the Canoe Movement, and preparing for the upcoming tribal journey this summer. The long-term goal of canoe family is to be self-sustaining through fundraising efforts, but there are many initial costs involved in starting a canoe family; camping equipment and gear, canoe maintenance and repair, and a trailer to tow the canoe on. CSF funding would be a key component to bridging the gaps of our current funding and ensure that there will be the necessary equipment, gear, and/or a trailer which will be used for many years to come.
Through the last year, our canoe family has grown to encompass many undergraduate and graduate students, as well as staff and faculty members, across many different departments. Our next steps are preparing for journey, which involve the creation of paddles that we are already in the progress of completing. Following completion of the paddles, we will begin to practice in our canoe, gifted to us by the Oliver family. Our goal is to be fully prepared, mentally, physically, and with the proper equipment, so that we can go on journey this Summer in late July.
Kariel Galbraith
Project lead
- galbk@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Student
- Years
- 1 year(s) remaining at UW
- Affiliated groups
- Canoe Family at UW RSO
Todd Clark
Team member
- tjc35@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Staff
- Affiliated groups
- Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies
Request amount and budget
Plans for financial longevity
Many of our costs associated with journey are one-time expenses for equipment. In regards to future maintenance plans, we hope to be responsible for our own fundraising through means of raffles and silent auctions of the paddles which we carve, and will continue to seek grant funding to fill in gaps that will allow us to give honorarium to elders, replace equipment, or bring in carvers to repair anything on our canoe.
March 2022-July 2023 Carving Paddles
April 2023 - Awakening our canoe (ceremonial practice)
April 2023-July 2023 - Paddle practice on Saturdays
April-July 2023 Aquiring camping equipment, safety gear, etc. with help of grants
May 2023- Create Canoe Family at UW t-shirt or regalia for use at canoe landings
June/ July 2023- Prepare plan for distributing camping gear and finalize camping plans, acquire canoe trailer
July 2023- Renting van for transportation of ground crew
July 2023-August 2023- Canoe journey, camping, and canoe landings at designated camping locations
Plans for long-term project management
n/a
Problem statement
The Canoe Movement or Tribal Journeys has its roots in the 1980s of the Pacific Northwest, particularly Seattle. These journeys happen every summer and grow larger each year as more tribal members and allies continue to support and uplift the traditions (old and new) of Native peoples. This RSO, and particularly the beginning of this project, seeks to provide Native students with the opportunity to participate in local culture. Urban Natives are often at a disadvantage when it comes to cultural access because many cultural activities happen on reservations or in community centers which may be difficult to access, particularly to students whose tribal affiliations are not local to the greater Seattle area.
Problem context
n/a
Measure the impacts
| Impact / goal | Metric(s) of success | UW stakeholders impacted |
|---|---|---|
| Provide community and access to cultural knowledge. | # of student participants during the 2 weeks of journey (including pullers, ground crew, and protocol crew) | Undergraduate, Graduate, Alumni, Academic staff |
Communication tactics and tools
Most of our communication is through e-mail, in-person weekly meetings, and paddle carving inside the Burke Museum.
Outreach communication plan
The current communication is through an email list that is open for all to join. We focus mostly on Indigenous and Native organizations and communities, and information is shared through the AIS / Indigenous listservs; many professors in the AIS department also share information and updates about our progress and invite new members.
Student involvement
There will be a canoe class in Spring 2023 which will be taught by one of our mentors, Nigel Lawrence.