Makah Museum, Native American museum in Neah Bay, United States
The Makah Museum is a collection of over 60,000 objects showing the life of the Makah Nation, including whaling equipment, fishing gear, basketry, and everyday items. It also features a complete replica of a traditional longhouse and four cedar canoes carved from single logs.
The museum opened in 1979 to preserve and present artifacts discovered at the Ozette Archaeological Site, where a mudslide buried an entire village centuries earlier. Excavations began in the 1970s and uncovered thousands of objects that document Makah life.
The museum displays how the Makah traditionally lived and worked, with replicas of cedar houses and canoes built using ancestral methods. These objects and crafts reflect a way of life deeply connected to the ocean and coastal forests.
Access is straightforward and suited for most visitors, with clear paths and displays that are easy to explore. It helps to allow time for each section, as the collection is extensive and there is much to see.
The collection holds preserved items 300 to 500 years old from a village first scientifically examined after its discovery in 1970. These artifacts are especially valuable because they retained their original condition, having been protected by the mudslide that buried them.
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