SustDawg Blog

September 26, 2018

My Dawg Life | The Willapa Spirit Arrives at UW

The Willapa Spirit Honor Canoe arrived at UW recently and today was the first day of Cynthia Updegrave and Marilyn Bard’s first meeting of their UW AIS 375 class “Engaging with the Waterways: Welcoming the Willapa Spirit Canoe to Campus”. The picture above is the Willapa Spirit in the ASUW Shell House located at the historic location, stəx̌ʷugʷił (stukh-wug-eelth ‘Carry a Canoe’). The Willapa Spirit is an Honor Canoe for Emmett Oliver, a beloved Native educator in Washington state and a primary founder of the annual tribal Canoe Journey. The Canoe was commissioned by Marilyn Bard, crafted by John Edward Smith and the external art was designed by UW professor Marvin Oliver. I’ve had the honor of paddling with the Oliver family in the Willapa Spirit in many Canoe Journeys so it’s very exciting to see it come to the UW campus where it has already become a treasured resource and ambassador for both remembering the past and celebrating the future.

Cedar used in preparing for Cynthia Updegrave and Marilyn Bard’s first meeting of their UW AIS 375 class “Engaging with the Waterways: Welcoming the Willapa Spirit Canoe to Campus”. 

This post relates to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG):