Duwamish Tribe now offering ‘ecotours’

| Duwamish Tribe | Environment | West Seattle news

(Duwamish Tribe Longhouse, WSB file photo)

On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, you might wonder about ways to support the Duwamish Tribe. They’ve recently announced a new offering through the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center in West Seattle: Ecotours:

The Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center is continuing our education programs, and keeping safe protocols in place to protect our communities from COVID-19. Masks are required, and we stay outdoors physically distanced at all times during the tour. Group size is limited to four people to keep with CDC guidelines suggesting groups be no larger than five people.

Visit us to learn about and walk through Hah-ah-poos Duwamish Village right on the river across the street from the Longhouse. We can talk about the history of the village site, the history of colonization in the general area of King County, some traditional food sources, and traditional ecological/land stewardship practices.

Email: tours@duwamishtribe.org to schedule a tour, or fill out the form at www.duwamishtribe.org/ecotours.

Let us know in your email, or in the website form, if you have accessibility needs. We will do our best to accommodate, but there are some limitations to the trails and paths at Hah-ah-poos (T-107 park).

It is the mission that of all the programs at the Duwamish Longhouse be self-sustaining. We recommend that our tour participants donate $10-25 per person, but know that we will not turn anyone away for financial reasons so long as we have availability.

P.S. Wondering whether the Port of Seattle will change the name of the park to honor its history as the Hah-ah-poos village site, as supported by the tribe? The port says its park-naming announcements will happen October 27th.

Mark October 12, 2020 (3:52 pm)

That is awesome. Just finishing a book on Chief Seattle. He was a member of both the Duwamish and Suqamish tribes. What is not talked about much is he was a slave owner. A common practice among Puget Sound tribes. During a census conducted by the Hudson Bay Company, the Nisqually Tribe had 55 slaves, several of them children.The Seattle Times ran an article about changing the name of our State because Washington was a slave owner. If we do that, to be consistent we will also need to find a new name for our City. Not to mention it is widely believed that Chief Seattle was responsible for the murder of his former son-in-law for divorcing his daughter Princess Angeline.