Suquamish culture, history and modern accomplishments are represented in the Tribal museum's collection and archives. Our holdings include baskets, woven mats, bone and stone artifacts, oral history tapes, archival and contemporary photographs and negatives, carvings, full sized canoes, newspapers, maps, Tribal archives, and more than 500 items from the Old Man House site, recently repatriated from the State of Washington.

The current museum has been housed since 1989 in converted office space at the former Tribal Center. However, the collection has grown substantially in recent years and now exceeds the exhibit and storage capacity of this space. Because the collection includes fragile organic, audio, and photographic materials, strict climate control is required for safe exhibition and long-term preservation. Climate control does not exist in the current space.

The new 9,000 square foot Museum and Arts Center will be located across from the Tribal Center. It will include appropriate exhibition and storage spaces and a sophisticated climate control system to ensure safe preservation. The new Center will feature 3,010 square feet total interior exhibit space„over 1,500 square feet more than the present museum.

The new Museum and Arts Center will create a visitor-focused immersion experience in past and present Suquamish life. Visitors will gather in the lobby and move through thematic areas that evoke the spirit of Old Man House, the Canoe Journey, pre-contact and contemporary Suquamish culture, and voices of the past and present Suquamish people.

The new Center will also include an intimate auditorium, an archive and research room, gift shop, public meeting room and ADA-compliant public restrooms. The archive and research room will provide increased access to documents and artifacts for tribal and community members and visiting scholars.

The intimate auditorium will be used for public exhibit-related lectures, performances, presentations and classes on Suquamish culture, language and traditional Suquamish arts and crafts.

The new Museum and Arts Center offers a window into the history and culture of the Tribe and the region. It will preserve and protect the Tribe's irreplaceable artifacts and archival materials for generations to come.

Completion of the Center by 2009 will enable the Tribe to host the Coast Salish Exhibit from the National Museum of the American Indian later that year.

Community House | Museum and Arts Center | Early Learning Center | Ballfield | Dock | Trails | Chief Seattle Grave Monument | Welcoming Pole