The Jamestown S’Klallam tribe’s canoes, including the newly blessed Little Sister, joined about 20 other tribal canoes on Saturday on their way to the Suquamish reservation west of Poulsbo.

There they and tribes from throughout western Washington and Canadian First Nations are celebrating their ancestral canoe culture with dancing, feasting, gaming and gifting that will culminate in a potlatch Saturday night.

The 2009 journey marks the 20th anniversary of a 1989 journey that was part of Washington state’s centennial celebration. The alcohol- and drug-free event proved so popular that it was reinstituted as the state’s largest single Native American cultural event.