SINIXT CANOE JOURNEY.
Providing financial and administrative support to Inchelium Language & Culture Association.
THE EVENT.
From the headwaters near Revelstoke to the salmon fishing grounds of Kettle Falls, this canoe journey travels through the heart of Sinixt territory—a living map of the Nation’s ancestral and ongoing stewardship.
The journey carries an urgent message about salmon reintroduction and conservation. For generations, the Columbia River salmon were the foundation of Sinixt life—spiritually, nutritionally, and economically. Today, the Sinixt continue to advocate for the return of salmon to their upper watershed and for renewed respect for their role as a keystone species. (Jenn Phillips, Sinixt.com Media Advisory)
Over the years, this canoe journey has moved its starting point further north along the Columbia River, from places like Castlegar and Galena Bay, and in 2023, Revelstoke became the new starting point for this journey.
OUR SUPPORT.
Tourism Revelstoke provided administrative and financial support for the Sinixt Canoe Journey in 2023, 2024, and 2025. This meaningful and culturally significant event provides a warm welcome for the Sinixt Homecoming, deepening our community’s connection to the land and its Indigenous heritage. As part of Tourism Revelstoke’s broader commitment to respectful and inclusive tourism, the canoe journey offered a powerful opportunity for both locals and visitors to engage with Indigenous perspectives and honor the original stewards of the land.
THE HISTORY.
The Columbia Tribes come together each year to meet in Kettle Falls, WA, and celebrate the annual salmon run. It had been over 80 years since the tribes gathered together at these ancestral fishing grounds, but in 2016, the Upper Columbia Tribes revitalized this tradition and journeyed in dugout canoes from their homelands. This initial ‘Ceremony of Tears’ was a time of mourning, as tribes witnessed the end of historic salmon migrations to the Upper Columbia due to the installation of the Grand Coulee Dam.
Before the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, Kettle Falls was one of the largest fisheries in the world, and tribes from as far away as Montana, Idaho, and Canada would gather for the salmon run in June and September. They would hold a ceremony each June, which would include a "giveaway" and "community feast" in honor and respect of the Salmon, and they would pray for the salmon’s safe return up the Columbia River. This ceremony was also documented by early explorer David Thompson and has been a part of the Inchelium community history. This tradition is still alive and well today.
Dale Tomma
“A homecoming event for the Sinixt to connect with their traditional territory in and around Revelstoke and with the community who lives here”
