The Ten Rules of The Canoe

Life advice from the Quileute tribe here in the Pacific Northwest

My friend Vanessa Longacre-Wilcox told me about the Rules of the Canoe, written by the Quileute tribe. While written (as best I can tell) for canoeing, they clearly are rooted in deeper values that apply well as rules for life. Which ones surprise you the most?

1. Keep going! Every stroke we take is one less we have to make.

2. Respect and trust cannot exist in anger. There is to be no abuse of self or others.

3. The adaptable animal survives: be flexible.

4. Every story is important: the gift of each enriches all.

5. Nothing occurs in isolation: we all pull and support each other.

6. Always nourish yourself: a hungry person has no charity.

7. Our experiences are not enhanced through criticism.

8. The journey is what we enjoy.

9. A good teacher always allows the student to learn.

10. When given a choice at all, be a worker bee — make honey!

Vanessa found #2 particularly interesting, as do I, as it’s not a rule but more of a self-reflective tool about emotional intelligence. Is it true that anger and trust cannot coexist? Sometimes it seems anger service the purpose of expressing how trust was broken. I need to think more about that one.

I found different versions of these rules, but this is the longest and most thorough. For each rule, there are many subversive sub-rules, like “when the wind confronts you, sometimes you should go the other way.” Which made me laugh. It’s always a good sign when a rule has captured some humor in it so we don’t make the mistake of taking it too seriously.