On Tuesday, August 2, through Saturday, August 7, Kalispel and regional tribal members and the River Warrior Society are holding the annual Remember the Water canoe journey [1].  The paddle usually voyages between Qpqpe (Sandpoint, Idaho) and the Qlispe (Kalispel) Tribal Powwow Grounds, during the days before and beginning the yearly Kalispel Powwow and around the time of the Festival at Sandpoint music concerts.  Families and friends are again paddling over 35 miles in traditional, dugout, wooden and sturgeon nose canoes, through their home lands and waters in the tributaries, lake, and river of the Pend Oreille watershed.  While oil and gas pipeline expansions and fossil fuels pipeline-on-rails infrastructure and transportation impose and risk further harms to indigenous people and places across Turtle Island (North America), Native neighbors continue to revive, uphold, and practice their ancient cultures and sustainable ways, through admirable endeavors like this canoe journey and culminating powwow.

Paddle organizers encourage observers and participants to share this joyful cultural resurgence at various route locations.  Like during previous years, and as depicted in linked photos and articles about prior journeys, Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) activists and area groups plan to welcome the paddlers at Sandpoint, during their arrival on Wednesday evening and departure on Thursday morning, August 3 and 4 [2-11].  The canoe journey tentatively begins with a Tuesday evening, August 2, meeting at the Kalispel Powwow Grounds, initially launches on the Pack River on Wednesday, August 4, and re-starts from Sandpoint City Beach Park on Thursday morning, August 5, ultimately reaching its destination of the Kalispel Village on Saturday, August 7.  Please see the enclosed itinerary, join WIRT in supporting this adventure, and contact Nathan Piengkham via facebook and/or respond to WIRT, for further information, logistics, and ways to help.

Tuesday, August 2, 7 pm, Kalispel Powwow Grounds, end of Pow Wow Park Road, Kalispel Reservation near Cusick, Washington

Hold skipper’s meeting discussing wind, water temperatures, speeds, directions, and waves, other boats, number of paddlers, drivers’ instructions, and location options, camp on the grounds next to the boat launch and canoe house

Wednesday, August 3, morning before noon, Northside Fire Department, 1572 Rapid Lightning Road, Sandpoint, Idaho

Drive to Pack River, smudge canoes and pray with elder, possibly launch more than once, depending on water speeds, portage to dinner, camping, and rooms in Sandpoint

Thursday, August 4, Sandpoint City Beach Park, 58 Bridge Street, Sandpoint, Idaho

Smudge canoes and pray in morning, put in at the boat ramp on the south side of the park, break for lunch or take out after 12 miles at the Morton Slough boat launch in Sagle, Idaho, camp on Kalispel tribal lands at the Carey Creek Game Management Area

Friday, August 5, Carey Creek Game Management Area, on the north side of Dufort Road, near Hayden Ranch Road, Priest River, Idaho

Wake up when ready, smudge canoes and pray, launch and paddle about two miles, portage from Albeni Cove campground, 2376 U.S. Highway 2, Oldtown, Idaho, put in again near the Thompson Memorial bridge, at the Oldtown Rotary Park boat launch, 68 Old Diamond Mill Road in Oldtown, Idaho, take out after eight miles at Downs Island, Newport, Washington, bring a shovel and toilet paper for camping

Saturday, August 6, Downs Island and Sandy Shores boat launch at the end of Sandy Shores Road, Newport, Washington

Wake up when ready, smudge canoes and pray, depart from the island and boat launch, lunch at the Usk beach landing at the west end of the East Fifth Street/Kings Lake Road bridge in Usk, Washington, take out after 14 miles at the Kalispel Powwow Grounds boat launch, hold final meeting, camp with available canoe shed

[1] The yearly Kalispel Tribal paddle…, July 21, 2022 Nathan Piengkham, River Warriors facebook page

[2] Early August Climate and Indigenous Activism Opportunities! August 2, 2017 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[3] Remember the Water Kalispel Pow Wow Paddle 8-3-17, August 5, 2017 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[4] Kalispel Paddle the Pend Oreille in Dugout Canoes, Embracing Historic Ties to the Waterway, Katie Botkin, August 6, 2017 Spokesman-Review

[5] Kalispel Canoe Journey, Sandpoint Festival Spotlight, #No2ndBridge Appeal Participation, July 30, 2018 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[6] Tribes Join Together to Make Second Annual Remember the Water Paddle, Katie Botkin, August 6, 2018 Spokesman-Review

[7] Spokane Conferences, Kalispel Canoe Journey, #No2ndBridge Actions, Fifth Panhandle Paddle, July 30, 2019 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[8] Fourth Remember the Water Paddle 7-30 to 8-1-20, August 9, 2020 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[9] Fourth Remember the Water Paddle Report, August 9, 2020 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[10] Gas Well Spacing and Lakeside Logging Comments, Tribal Paddle and Oil Train Protest Reports, and More, August 25, 2020 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

[11] Fifth Kalispel Remember the Water Canoe Journey, August 4, 2021 Wild Idaho Rising Tide