Salish Racing Canoes on North Shore

The Salish “war canoes” have come to the North Shore again as part of their weekend series of races throughout the summer in the Salish Sea area. This weekend they are at Ambleside Beach in West Vancouver; next weekend they will be at Cates Park in North Vancouver. Long narrow dugout or strip canoes that hold from one to eleven paddlers compete in various age and distance categories on both days. These crafts are unique to this area and stem from a time when they were used as fast scouting craft and the races were one of the few legal ways for aboriginal people to congregate and keep communication between nations alive.