One of many popular events at Chief Taholah Days is Cedar Canoe Racing on the Quinault River. The hand carved canoes are 22 feet long and 24 inches wide, and powered by a 25 horsepower outboard motor. The canoes can reach speeds of up to 50 mph. The event runs Saturday through Tuesday and is open to everyone, tribal member or not, and that includes access to beaches normally closed to non-members. Chief Taholah Days are “a celebration of the culture and traditions of our people and a commemoration of the foresight and wisdom of our ancestors who seven generations ago retained our way of life by protecting our rights in our treaty with the federal government. It is so appropriate that they signed it on the Fourth of July 162 years ago,” said Quinault Indian Nation President Fawn Sharp. “It is our honor to open the Quinault Nation Reservation, including our beaches, to the public as a gesture of brotherhood and sisterhood. We invite one and all to come join us and respectfully celebrate our Quinault Nation Treaty and the birth date of the United States of America.”