More than 100 Sitkans gathered at the Starrigavan boat launch Thursday morning for a blessing and send-off of the “Ancestral Echoes” canoe, sponsored by the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, heading to Celebration in Juneau.

Lingít elders Ed Peele and Harvey Kitka offered a blessing accompanied by drumming and singing before the 12 paddlers got into the red, blue, and black canoe to leave on their five-day journey to the capital city. They were accompanied by the F/V Anna, a safety boat that will travel with them the roughly 130 nautical miles as a precautionary measure.

Lingít artist Weidaaka Yoodooha (Bill Pfeifer Jr.) of the Chookaneidí clan designed the canoe as a visual timeline of Lingít identity and healing, according to a SEARHC social media post.

“The design itself tells a story in three sections,” the post said. “The stern honors the guidance of past masters in red. The mid-section moves through the teal waters of the Quiet Period — a time of colonial suppression — where wave-like forms carry the spirit faces of ancestors who kept culture alive in silence. The bow, in black, belongs to the living generation: forward-leaning, reclaiming, driving the canoe ahead.”

Celebration is a four-day event organized by Sealaska Heritage Institute that takes place every two years. It started 44 years ago as a way for Lingít, Haida, and Tsimshian people to gather and celebrate their cultural survival. This year, the theme is “Enduring Strength.”

Sitka’s canoe is expected to arrive in Juneau on Tuesday morning along with canoes paddling from communities across the region.