With Bullitt Prize, two brothers plan to restart Lummi Youth Canoe Family
Canoe journeys are rigorous, challenging trips that go for hundreds of miles.
Each year, canoe “families” from different tribal nations paddle between villages on the Salish Sea, joining local celebrations and ceremonies along the way. They camp at each stop until reaching that year’s destination tribal site.
For indigenous people who take part, it’s an important way to connect with their culture as well as other tribes. It’s also a chance to explore nature and their own inner strength.
The Lummi Youth Canoe Family took its last journey in 2019. Now, two brothers are trying to revive the group.
Raven and Free Borsey first joined the Lummi Youth Canoe Family in 2013.
The twin brothers say joining the group as teenagers changed their trajectory in life and gave them a better understanding of the natural world.
Now, more than a decade after their first canoe trip, the twin brothers have received the Bullitt Prize, a $100,000 dollar grant from Washington Conservation Action aimed at developing young environmental leaders in the state, under the age of 35.
Their goal is bringing the trips back for new generations of Lummi youth and expanding the programming year round.
Guests:
Raven Borsey, Bullitt Prize Recipient
Free Borsey, Bullitt Prize Recipient
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Libby Denkmann
Host, Soundside
Libby Denkmann joined KUOW in December 2021 as the host of the midday show Soundside. She’s a native Pacific Northwesterner who grew up in Redmond, graduated from the University of Washington, and covered local news as a producer and reporter with KIRO Radio.
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Hans Anderson
Producer, Soundside
Hans Anderson is a producer on KUOW’s Soundside, where he covers a diverse range of topics from conflicts over how to use busy streets to how the open spaces of the Palouse inspire modern musical compositions. He primarily produces segments about politics, arts and transportation.
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