Lushootseed Creation Histories
Land. Language. Lineage.
Feb. 7 through July, 31, 2026
Tidelands, Seattle
Lushootseed Creation Histories honors the ancestral teachings of the Coast Salish Sea, illuminating the living narratives that shape the people, animals, waters, and lands of this place. Through the Lushootseed language and the creative expressions of fifteen Coast Salish artists, this exhibition brings forward origin stories that have been carried, protected, and spoken across generations.
This land is the homeland of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Tulalip, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, and Snoqualmie peoples. Coast Salish peoples understand themselves as children of the land, taught how to live in balance, health, and relationship. Wealth is understood not as what is owned, but what is shared. In that spirit, these stories are offered as an act of responsibility and care.
At the heart of the exhibition are the teachings of čušad sč́istxʷ (Star Husband) and dukʷibəɫ (The Changer), foundational creation histories that guide Coast Salish understandings of transformation, accountability, and relationality. These are not myths of a distant past; they are living teachings that instruct how to be in good relationship with land and one another.
To create Lushootseed Creation Histories, artists and curators Matika Wilbur (Swinomish & Tulalip) and Amber Hayward (Puyallup) convened Lushootseed language departments, language holders, and Tribal artists. Through shared gatherings grounded in listening — to the land, the language, and the teachings — artists created works that do not illustrate these histories, but embody them. Across carving, weaving, painting, installation, and language work, these teachings are held in material form, making visible what has always been present.
This exhibition invites visitors to reconsider dominant timelines and confront the white-washed narratives that have long obscured Indigenous presence. Everywhere we stand in North America is Indigenous land, and every place carries its own creation story. To learn the origin stories of the land we inhabit is to step into a deeper understanding of stewardship, sovereignty, and belonging.
Lushootseed Creation Histories affirms that ancestral knowledge is not static. It evolves, breathes, and continues to guide Coast Salish communities today. By centering language and story, this exhibition honors the enduring cultural and political sovereignty of Coast Salish peoples and offers an opportunity for all who enter to listen, learn, and witness.