Heritage Sites

Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center
Discovery Park, 206.285.4425
Daybreak Star is located in Discovery Park, in the Magnolia neighborhood. The Indian Cultural Center was established after a long occupation of the land, part of a former military base, by Native American activists in 1970. Activist leader Bernie Whitebear served as founding director of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, which runs a gallery and numerous social and cultural programs at the center, serving the local and regional Indian community. www.unitedindians.com

Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center

Discovery Park is also the location of the West Point archaeological site, a Native American site that was used for more than 4,000 years for fishing, clamming, and food processing. The West Point site was identified during construction of a water treatment plant in Discovery Park; artifacts from the collection are housed at the Burke Museum.

Ivar's Salmon House & Waterway 15
401 NE Northlake Way, 206.632.0767
Ivar's Salmon House is a cedar replica of a Northwest Coast Indian longhouse located on the north side of Lake Union. Traditional and contemporary Native American artwork and historic photographs are on display in the lobby. A 16' welcome pole by chief carver David R. Boxley welcomes visitors. On the west side of the building is Waterway 15, a "pocket park" and public shoreline access point where public art highlights the area's Native heritage. www.ivars.net

Pioneer Square
First Avenue and Yesler Street
Pioneer Square, Seattle's oldest neighborhood, contains many layers of Native American heritage. Two Indian villages were once located in the vicinity, and the Lushootseed, or Puget Sound Salish, name for the area translates as "a little place where one crosses over." As the settlement of Seattle grew, Pioneer Square remained the city's historic core. The tall stately totem pole in the center of the cobblestone Pioneer Place park seems to be a fitting tribute to Native heritage, although the original totem pole that graced the park was actually stolen from a Tlingit village at Fort Tongass, Alaska by a group of prominent Seattle businessmen in 1899. The current totem, a 1938 replica created by Tlingit carver Charles Brown, was acquired a bit more legitimately by the City of Seattle. A bust of Chief Seattle was created by sculptor James Wehn in 1909, as a study for another statue which stands at Fifth Avenue and Denny Way. A 1991 artwork called Day/Night by Edgar Havichi Heap of Birds flanks the bust and comments on the experiences of Native people in Seattle. Occidental Square, one block southeast of Pioneer Place, is the setting for several contemporary carvings in traditional Northwest Coast styles by Duane Pasco.

Birthplace of Seattle Monument & Log House Museum
Alki Beach, 3003 61st Avenue SW, 206.938.5293
A monument on Alki Avenue SW marks the location where the Denny Party landed in 1851, establishing the first non-native settlement on Elliott Bay. In 2001, a plaque acknowledging the assistance that these first settlers received from the region's indigenous people was added to the monument, one of many efforts in recent years to make the role of Native Americans more visible in the local historical record. The nearby Log House Museum offers exhibits and video programs highlighting early contact between Native and non-native people in the Seattle area. www.loghousemuseum.org

Terminal 107 Park and Herring's House Park
On the Duwamish River, West Marginal Way & Alaska Street
These two nearly adjacent parks are lands that were once part of a Duwamish village site, and include protected archaeological resources, as well as habitat restoration areas and interpretive information about the Duwamish River. Up the hill from the park is the Belvedere Viewpoint at 3600 Admiral Way SW, where a story pole carved by Michael Halady, a descendant of Chief Seattle, was dedicated in 2006 to honor the Duwamish people.

Tillicum Village
Blake Island State Park, 206.933.8600
Located across Elliott Bay from downtown Seattle, Tillicum Village features a replica Northwest Coast Native American longhouse where salmon dinners are served, and performances highlight Northwest Coast dances and legends. www.tillicumvillage.com

North Wind's Fish Weir
S 112th Street off of Pacific Hwy, Tukwila
The Green River Trail, a bike and pedestrian trail, crosses the Duwamish River at North Wind's Fish Weir. This place is important in the "Epic of the Winds," stories from Puget Sound Salish oral tradition that describe the battles between North Wind and South Wind for control of the region. The Fish Weir, believed to have been turned to stone by a powerful being called Transformer, is visible in the middle of the river at low tide. The stories are interpreted in a park on the west side of the river, and are commemorated in the works of four visual artists placed along the trail on the east side of the river. www.4culture.org/publicart

Vi Hilbert Enthnobotanical Garden
Located on the campus of Seattle University, on James Street between Broadway and 12th Avenue, this botanical garden highlights culturally important native plants. The garden honors Upper Skagit elder Vi Hilbert, who has worked tirelessly for decades to ensure the survival of Lushootseed, the language of the First People of Puget Sound.

Alder smoked salmon at Tillicum Village on Blake Island.

Artworks in the shape of traditional spirit boards stand as sentinels above the Fish Weir site. Northwind Fishing Weir Legend © Susan Point, 1997. King County Public Art Collection, photo by Joe Manfredini.