In this documentary, witness the spiritual and physical journey of the University of Washington’s first canoe family aboard the Willapa Spirit. It’s a story of reclaiming old traditions and starting new ones, and of reconnecting to a heritage that will always be an essential part of the Pacific Northwest.

Building a family through tribal canoe journey

On a hillside in Suquamish, Washington, Nicole Kuhn and her two teenage sons watched brightly colored canoes make their way toward the beach below on a sunny July afternoon.

Kuhn was searching for a canoe with a colorful red and green salmon painted on its exterior. When she spotted the canoe, she teared up. Among the paddlers — called pullers — were her two older children, Ethan and Naomi, participating in their first Tribal Canoe Journey.