National Native American Heritage Month – Regional Events and Resources

November is National Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions and histories, and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. It’s also an opportune time to raise general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens have worked to conquer these challenges.

Some regional events:

November 2, 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.: The Burke Museum in Seattle presents Passages–Tracing Routes to the Future, which will bring together leading Native American and First Nations artists and scholars to discuss trends and recent research on the distinctive art traditions of our region. Speakers include Sonny Assu (Ligwiłda’xw of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations), Shawn Brigman (Spokane), Joe Feddersen (Colville), Dan Friday (Lummi), Kadusné Ursala Hudson (Tlingit), James Johnson (Tlingit), and Tillie Jones (Tulalip), with opening songs from Joe Seymour (Squaxin Island/Acoma Pueblo). The symposium speakers will share about their current artistic practices and the ways in which they’ve engaged with their cultural heritage through museum research and through their own artistic journeys.

Through March 31, 2025: McPherson Library at the University of Victoria, B.C. presents tr̓ar̓ iʔ sʕax̌ʷip – interwoven roots. Inspired by childhood memories shared by Elder Jane Stelkia of the Osoyoos Indian Band, tr̓ar̓ iʔ sʔax̌ʷip explores the artistic and cultural legacy of a group of sukʷnaʔqinx (Okanagan) youth who attended the Inkameep Day School on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve in the Okanagan Valley during the World War II era. In the Legacy Maltwood Gallery on the lower level of Mearns – the McPherson Library. (Scroll down on the webpage to information about this exhibit.)

Through March 30, 2025: What is Native Art? Eugene Landry and the Creative Spirit is an exhibition on view at Washington State History Museum. Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe artist Eugene Landry (1937–1988) was a gifted painter who captured local scenery and people. Paralyzed as a teenager, the bulk of his work dates from 1960–1979, a pivotal time in his Tribe’s history. After his death, he was largely forgotten outside the Tribe until 2019, when artist Judith Altruda discovered around 70 of his paintings stored in a barn. With a Humanities Washington Storytellers grant, the Tribe partnered with Altruda to produce an exhibition and book, Portrait of Gene—An Artist, A Tribe, and a Time.

November 11, noon to 2 p.m.: White River Valley Museum in Auburn presents Family Day: Native American Heritage Month where you can explore Indigenous foods and traditions, and learn about the Code Talkers. All ages are welcome! RSVP here.

Here are some regional resources for learning more about and celebrate Native American Heritage Month:

The YMCA of Greater Seattle invites you to explore their resources for learning about Indigenous and Native People’s Heritage, and join them for a month-long journey of celebrating, learning, taking action, and supporting Native people.

Join Tacoma Public Library in celebrating Native American Heritage Month with curated events, booklists, and more.

Chief Seattle Club is a Native-led housing and human services agency, dedicated to physically and spiritually supporting American Indian and Alaska Native people. “We believe in the power of ancestral ways, and preserving them means fostering a sense of community among those without one to call their own.” CSC provides hot meals, health and wellness services, social workers, homeless and transitional services, computer access, traditional and cultural services, legal assistance, a Native art program and gallery, outings to tribes and museums, and more to Native Americans in need.

Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center – Founded in 1970, United Indians of All Tribes Foundation provides an extensive array of culturally responsive services and programming to Seattle and King County’s urban Native community. Our headquarters, the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, was completed in 1977, and has become a hub of activity for Native peoples and their supporters locally, nationally, and internationally. Daybreak Star is home to a permanent collection of Native art, as well as the Sacred Circle Gallery featuring rotating exhibits of work by contemporary Native artists.

Steinbrueck Native Gallery is dedicated to enhancing and cultivating the appreciation and awareness of the cultural traditions of the Northwest Coast First Nations peoples. The Gallery is a place of gathering for artists and appreciators; collectors and scholars. We pride ourselves on featuring First Nations artists. We exhibit an array of works by long established masters and talented emerging artists. Our diverse collection includes ceremonial masks, panels, paddles, drums, rattles, button blankets, bentwood boxes, limited edition prints, original paintings, baskets, and fine jewelry. The Gallery also features a collection of Alaskan and Arctic art including soapstone, walrus ivory, and whalebone sculpture.

Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center – The mission of the Cultural Center Project is to promote the social, cultural, and economic survival of Seattle Washington’s aboriginal Duwamish Tribe. Through the collective collaboration of tribal members and the community, today, we seek to reclaim a space to revitalize our culture and preserve our living heritage. Together with our allied partners, we have built the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center (DLCC) overlooking the Duwamish River Valley, near the village called hah-AH-poos, a major archeological site known as Duwamish Site No. 1. The Center’s proximity to this significant site, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, offers a rare opportunity to display never before seen artifacts and to create interpretive exhibits and tours to maximize its cultural and recreational public use.

Suquamish Museum – Suquamish is one of many Indian Tribes in the Pacific Northwest who thrived in their traditional life ways before the arrival of non-Indians. Taking their name from the traditional Lushootseed phrase for “people of the clear salt water” these expert fisherman, canoe builders and basket weavers have lived in harmony with the lands and waterways along Washington’s Central Puget Sound Region for thousands of years. The Museum offers opportunities to learn about the history and traditional ways of the Suquamish.

The Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve mission is to revive, restore, protect, interpret, collect and enhance the history, traditional cultural values and spiritual beliefs of the Tulalip Tribes who are the successors in interest to the Snohomish, Snoqualmie and Skykomish tribes and other tribes and bands signatory to the Treaty of Point Elliott. The interactive cultural center features a main exhibit, a temporary exhibit, two classrooms, a longhouse, a research library, and gift shop. It also features a fully certified collections and archaeological repository. It was the first Tribal facility certified by the state of Washington.

s’gʷi gʷi ʔ altxʷ: House of Welcome Cultural Arts Center – The House of Welcome opened on Evergreen’s Olympia Campus in 1995. Our mission is to promote Indigenous arts and cultures through education, cultural preservation, creative expression, and economic development. The Evergreen State College’s House of Welcome Cultural Arts Center is a public service center and was built in collaboration with Northwest Tribes. It is the first building of its kind on a public campus in the United States. This multi-purpose facility is designed to serve a variety of educational, cultural and community functions. Founded upon a vision of hospitality and service, it is a gathering place for people of all cultural backgrounds to teach and learn with each other.

Lelooska Foundation & Cultural Center – At this cultural center in Ariel, Southwest of Mount St. Helens, the Lelooska Foundation highlights the diversity of Native Peoples in North America. The collection includes everything from baskets and dolls to moccasins, dresses, and even a 15-foot birch bark canoe. On select dates, visitors can attend evening performances.

The Makah Cultural and Research Center houses the museum, along with a gift shop and tribal programs. Visit the museum to view and interpret 300–500-year-old artifacts recovered from the Ozette archaeological site along with Makah masks, baskets, carvings, and jewelry.