Snoqualmie Nation Elder John Mullen, a Master Carver of cedar canoes, visited Cary Collins’s and Angela Watts’s Pacific Northwest History classes with his son, John, to share about Native American history and culture and give students a hands-on experience in wood carving. Mullen explained that the area around Maple Valley and along the Cedar River comprises a part of the traditional lands of the Snoqualmie people. Students practiced their wood carving skills on a six-foot dugout cedar canoe. Mullen also shared examples of hats, tools, paddles, drums, rattles, and miniature canoes crafted from cedar trees and other materials found in the natural environment.
