Olympic Peninsula: Learn, Serve & Immerse (Custom Dates)

Our welcome dinner at the 7 Cedars Hotel will celebrate the Jamestown S’Klallam traditions, reflecting an abundance of the sea, land and sky – a theme that will be featured throughout the visit.  The tribe is known for oysters, salmon and many other local food traditions which will be celebrated in the dinner based upon what is in season and locally sourced.  Beverages will be included with the meal – you may even enjoy a tribal member’s cider – Two Hooligans – or Nettle Tea, freshly made from the plant growing along JimmyComeLately Creek behind the hotel. 

Today we spend the morning volunteering with our community partners to help restore wild salmon habitat and become stewards of the local environment.  Depending on which dates you register for, we will either plant trees on the Dungeness River, or pull invasive species on the Elwha River and learn firsthand about the natural habitat of salmon and its importance in the native culture.   

After enjoying a picnic lunch along the river, we will learn about the history and culture of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe..    

*Breakfast Options: options include in room, Jamestown Java, House of 7 Brothers and Napoli’s.

Meals included as part of itinerary:  Boxed lunch from 7 Cedars or other.

*Breakfast Options: options include in room, Jamestown Java, House of 7 Brothers and Napoli’s.

Each 3-day adventure includes a Northwest inspired welcome dinner at the beautiful, new 7 Cedars Hotel, 4 hours of service learning work on the Elwha or Dungeness River that focuses on salmon habitat recovery with discussions facilitated by our community partners about the recovery work, an afternoon of learning about the culture of the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe and a hike to the Dungeness Spit.

We believe the most powerful way to learn is through hands-on community-based travel experiences. We let the destination and its people be your teachers, and supplement experiences with reading lists, informal discussions, and a pre-trip orientation to better equip participants with the practical information needed to understand the culture, history, and community challenges of our destination.   

This unique community-based experience in the Northern Olympic Peninsula provides participants with the opportunity to learn and grow by working on a regenerative project to help rebuild salmon habitat along the Dungeness River, as well as learning about the history and culture of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. This tribe has long been recognized as a progressive Tribe, now wholeheartedly rooted in the 21st century, but with a deep connection to their traditional resources, history and culture, which inform the present and serve as the foundation of their success.

• Learning themes unique to the educational experience with the community partners include:
• Learn about the history, culture and traditions of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe
• Learn about salmon recovery on the Olympic Peninsula and how public lands are managed,
• Land stewardship, including salmon habitat rehabilitation practices
• The environmental impact of the removal of dams on important rivers for salmon and river restoration. 
• Develop knowledge and skills about tree planting and invasive species removal.
• Understanding salmon habitat ecosystems, and the intersection of human needs and natural cycles.

Our travelers become immersed in the culture of the communities we visit by experiencing daily life with the locals!   By authentically engaging with our host communities, we learn to honor and respect diverse and traditional cultures and bring those cherished memories home with us. 

On this unique experience on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, guests will enjoy enriching cultural experiences with our hosts, the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe. 

Various activities will be offered by tribal citizens, including nature walks to learn about the local plants and how they are used in the tribal traditions of food, storytelling, and practical uses.  Can you imagine taking a plant and turning it into a walking stick?  How about following the cedar story and learning how to make a “cedar rose” – something that can be worn as a lapel pin, a decoration or more.

In addition, by working to help the salmon habitat recovery along the Dungeness and Elwha rivers, you will hear stories and perspectives of local citizens and organizations working towards restoring vitality to the region.  Participants will also connect to the beauty of the natural environment by hiking among the stunning Olympic Peninsula landscape.

Salmon are in trouble. This critical species faces many threats including extensive habitat loss. Many of our streams, rivers, estuaries, and coastal environments are in a state of decline due to decreased water quality, less vegetative cover, less spawning gravels, increased shoreline armoring, higher temperatures, higher silt, and higher fine sediments. Today, we are facing a dramatic decline in the number of salmon in our region.

Guests will spend a half day of service learning with the North Olympic Salmon Coalition and Elwha River Restoration,  working to help the salmon habitat recovery along the Dungeness and Elwha rivers, you will hear stories and perspectives of local citizens and organizations working towards restoring vitality to the region. 

As one of the JAMESTOWN S'KLALLAM TRIBAL ENTERPRISES, 7Cedars offers an elegant, yet Casual atmosphere alive in history, scenic beauty, superior service, and excitement. Inspired by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s ancestral connection to our local waterways and the bounty they provide, The House of Seven Brothers features locally sourced seafood, produce, and protein from fisherman, farmers, and ranchers across the Olympic Peninsula.​ The House of Seven Brothers is inspired by a traditional S’Klallam story and is the next step in our continuous effort to build the future while remembering the past.

The mission of The North Olympic Salmon Coalition (NOSC) is to promote robust wild salmon stocks for families, fishers, and local economies by furthering habitat restoration and education on the North Olympic Peninsula. NOSC is one of 14 Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups (RFEGs) in Washington State working on wild salmon recovery through collaborative partnerships and community volunteerism. 

“S’Klallam” derives from “nuxsklai’yem,” the original Salish language name for the S’Klallam people meaning “strong people.” The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is one of three S’Klallam bands; the others are the Lower Elwha Klallam and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribes.

Inhabiting this area for more than 10,000 years, the S’Klallams possessed a rich social and religious culture based on the abundant natural resources of the Northwest Coast. They moved from village to village in their traditional territory during the spring, summer and fall, for fishing and resource gathering, and settled into more permanent longhouses for the winter months. The inhabitants hunted game and subsisted on the wealth of shellfish, herring, and salmon. They were craftspeople skilled in woodcarving and basket making, and they fashioned ceremonial masks, serving dishes and utensils, and storage boxes from cedar, and woven mats, rope, and clothing from cedar bark.

Learn more here:  https://jamestowntribe.org/

A Seattle native, Ben Wheeler has worked as a secondary school educator and administrator. Ben gave the keynote and endnote at the 2008 Global Citizenship Summit in Bali, Indonesia, and was the World Affairs Council’s 2009 World Educator. He authored the high school textbook It's All Connected - a Comprehensive Guide to Global Issues and Sustainable Solutions.  

From 2012 to early 2020, Ben taught Geography and Civilizations courses for middle schoolers at The Bush School in Seattle,  and also taught a wide-range of elective and experiential courses, including the following: Art in Public Places, Sustainable Design for Urban Living, Seattleness, Urban Forest Stewardship, Food Awareness, Oral History with Elders, Backpacking the Olympic Coast, and Stehekin Multi-Adventure.

Ben loves running, biking, fly-fishing, jazz and classical guitar, cross-country skiing, and backpacking. In addition to guiding numerous wilderness adventures in California and Washington, Ben has led international tours in Italy and India, most recently two weeks of cultural immersion in Ladakh, India, on the Himalayan Plateau.

The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the east by Hood Canal. Cape Alava, the westernmost point in the contiguous United States, and Cape Flattery, the northwesternmost point, are on the peninsula. Comprising about 3,600 square miles (9,300 km2), the Olympic Peninsula contained many of the last unexplored places in the contiguous United States.

Named after the Olympic Mountains it encompasses, the park was established on June 29, 1938, by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to preserve the area's unique wildlife and landscapes. There are few parks with such diverse ecosystems and varied geography.

With the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the health and safety of Global Family Travels and First Nature travelers, community partners, colleagues and guides are of paramount importance to us.

Please see our COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS documents, found under the Tasks section, which outlines our commitment to mitigate and manage the risks associated with COVID-19 when you travel with us.  Please also refer to the tasks which has specific details for your activity and destination. 

Thank you for helping to keep yourself and fellow travelers and guides safe!