Suquamish Museum
 | |
| Established | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Location | 6861 NE South St, Suquamish, Washington |
| Coordinates | 47°43′46″N 122°33′27″W / 47.729493°N 122.557378°W |
| Type | Tribal Museum |
| Key holdings | Old Man House artifacts |
| Director | Janet Smoak |
| President | Leonard Forsman |
| Curator | Lydia Sigo |
| Owner | Suquamish Tribe |
| Website |
suquamishmuseum |
The Suquamish Museum is a museum located on the Port Madison Indian Reservation in Washington state. It preserves and displays artifacts and information related to the Suquamish Tribe. Founded in 1983, the museum currently occupies a facility opened in 2012.
History
The Suquamish Museum opened in 1983 as the Suquamish Museum and Cultural Center, then only the second tribal museum in the state of Washington.[1][2] In 2009 the Suquamish tribe launched a capital campaign to construct a new facility, enlisting Senator Patty Murray and former Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro to help lead the effort. The new facility opened in 2012 and is triple the size of the original building. Constructed at a cost of $6 million, the 9,000-square-foot (840 m2) purpose-built structure is set in a small botanical garden on the Port Madison Indian Reservation and consists of two galleries, a gift shop, a 50-seat auditorium, and climate-controlled storage.[3] The facility was designed by the Seattle architectural firm Mithun and is a LEED Gold certified building. In 2013 it received a citation from the Washington Council of the American Institute of Architects.[4]
Operations
Collection
In addition to a large repository of photographs documenting tribal life from the 1860s to the present, the museum's collection includes archaeological artifacts recovered from the site of the former Old Man House, the home of Chief Seattle located on the shores of Agate Passage until its destruction in the late nineteenth century. Deposited for nearly 50 years at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, the artifacts, which include harpoon points, wedges, tools and jewelry, were transferred to the Suquamish tribe in 2004 when Old Man House Park was deeded to the Suquamish Tribe by the State of Washington. The Collection returned from the Burke Museum in the fall of 2013 to the new Suquamish Tribal Museum facility.[5][6]
Exhibitions
The museum's main gallery features a permanent exhibit titled "Ancient Shores – Changing Tides" that showcases archaeological artifacts, drawings, documents, and historic photographs related to the Suquamish Tribe, contemporary and historic crafts, and interpretative panels and multimedia elements.[7] Featured in the exhibit is an historic era canoe that was last used in the 1989 Paddle to Seattle, the first of a now annual series of canoe journeys through the Salish Sea undertaken by tribal members.[8] A second gallery is used to house rotating exhibits from the museum's permanent collection, or items on loan from other museums, including traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES). Exhibits have included a SITES display "Native Words, Native Warriors", chronicling the history of Native Americans in the U.S. armed forces.[9]
Management
The Suquamish Museum is governed by a seven-member board of directors appointed by the Suquamish Tribal Council. The galleries and auditorium of the museum are open daily, except for major holidays. [10]
References
- ↑ "Suquamish Museum and Cultural Center". nativeamericanencylopedia.com. Native American Encyclopedia. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ↑ Sheppard, Derek (26 April 2009). "Work to Begin This Week on New, Bigger Suquamish Museum". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ↑ "New Suquamish Museum Opens to the Public" (PDF). suquamishmuseum.org. Suquamish Tribe. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ↑ "Suquamish Museum". Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ↑ Walker, Richard (24 May 2013). "Suquamish Tribe celebrates return of ancestral objects". North Kitsap Herald. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ↑ "Old Man House Collections Come Home". burkemuseum.org. Burke Museum. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ↑ "Ancient Shores – Changing Tides". suquamishmuseum.org. Suquamish Museum. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ↑ Cantwell, Brian (26 January 2013). "Learn about Chief Seattle and his tribe in a pilgrimage to new museum". Seattle Times. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ↑ Oxley, Richard (25 April 2014). "National-touring exhibit stops in Suquamish". Bremerton Patriot. Bremerton, Washington. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ↑ "Research". suquamishmuseum.org. Suquamish Museum. Retrieved 5 September 2014.