SUQUAMISH — As she navigates her way through the somewhat cramped quarters of the current Suquamish Museum, director Marilyn Jones dreams of a larger facility that will hopefully come to fruition in the next few years. The new building will do more than hold artifacts and present information, it will serve as the Suquamish Tribe’s cultural, historical and arts center, showcasing the tribe’s heritage.
“We’re going to have a separate theater and auditorium that will seat 75 people,” Jones said. “The office space will be much nicer. We will have a room for research, scheduled research.”
The current museum houses tapes with oral histories and stories on them, items from different Suquamish families and documentation of those families and their roots. The storage space, however, is limited and is not climate- or light-controlled, which can be damaging for older documents and artifacts, said Suquamish Foundation director Michael Felts.
That will all change with the new structure, which is tentatively scheduled to be completed by mid-2009. Suquamish is set to be the final destination for Tribal Journeys that summer, and it is preparing the new museum, a traditional community house and a new dock for the occasion. The Suquamish Foundation is working to raise about $20 million through grants, federal funding and fund raisers to support the three projects.
“It takes time to get there,” said Suquamish Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman. “We’re really hoping the buildings will work to feeding our cultural resurgence.”
He added the improved electronic access to documents will help tribal members find information and reconnect with their relatives. The easier access to historic documents will also help boost the already greatly improved sense of heritage.
“The other beautiful feature is it’s a museum and an arts center,” Felts said. “We’ll be able to feature current artists in an outdoor area where they can demonstrate their skill.”
There will be a “forest room” as well, Jones said, with a nature trail and the ability to teach natural interpretation of plants. The location will have native plants significant to the area and the Suquamish culture, with the native, Latin and English names included.
Felts and Jones both mentioned the “Listening to Our Ancestors: The Art of Native Life Along the North Pacific Coast” exhibit created by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, featuring the Suquamish Tribe along with other West Coast tribes. It is opening Sept. 12 at the George Gustav Heye Center in New York and will be there for one year. Jones is working to bring a portion of it to Suquamish when the new museum opens.
“We’ll have space for traveling exhibits,” Felts said. “There is an exhibit coming from NMAI, the exhibit will go to (Washington) D.C. to New York to Suquamish. It’s nationally and internationally known, and it’s an exhibit Suquamish will be hosting.”
In the meantime, with summer bringing more visitors to the area and the looming need to pack up the current museum and move everything to the new building, Jones is staying busy. The work is enjoyable, she said, and she is looking forward to the journey to the new building.
“I’m learning a lot, and it’s so exciting,” Jones said. “There are so many things to undertake. I’m excited and nervous at the same time… This is another step in making our elders’ dreams come true.”
