At about 6 p.m., roughly 100 yards from the Marine Park dock, the canoes will slow and those aboard will call out in Tlingit to announce their arrival and identity. They'll wait for a return greeting from shore, as an anticipated crowd of hundreds watches from the seawalk and plaza.

The Coming Ashore Ceremony, as it's come to be called, is a tribute to the days when canoes were the major mode of transportation between communities.

"It's an ancient tradition," said Yarrow Varra, Tlingit language specialist at Sealaska Heritage Institute. "As long as people had traditional territories that they were defending, they had an interest in knowing who came and went. If people were coming to a party, the people on shore would want to know who was on board and how they should treat the people who were coming to visit them. It's a matter of establishing the relationship of how they're to deal with the visitors: if they need to scramble around and bring out all the best and finest, or bring out their trade goods."

Or, when a non-identifiable canoe was approaching, prepare for battle.

At least three or four Juneau canoes are expected to participate in the Coming Ashore Ceremony, which also kicks off the canoe events at Celebration.

The biennial canoe races, or Gathering of the Canoes, are set for 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 4, in Gastineau Channel off Sandy Beach. Four boats participated in 2004 - SEAHRC, The Tribal Renegades, the Tlingit Warriors and One People. As of press time for this section in mid-May, it was hoped that boats from Haines, Klawock, Sitka and Kake would compete.

The 11-person war canoes are manned by 10 paddlers and a rudderman.

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire   Canoe races: The One People canoe team paddles across Gastineau Channel to take part in the Coming Ashore Ceremony for Celebration 2004.

The canoes in the Coming Ashore Ceremony will be filled with clan leaders. Once ashore, the leaders will be offered fresh water - a top commodity for canoeists who have traveled a great distance.