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Indians 101: A Cowlitz canoe (museum exhibit) [1]
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Date: 2025-05-08
One of the first exhibits that greets visitors to the Cowlitz County Historical Museum in Kelso, Washington, is a Cowlitz canoe. For more than 12,000 years the Cowlitz Indians have lived in Western Washington along the Cowlitz River and other tributaries that flowed into the Columbia River. As a river people their traditional economy was based on fishing which was supplemented with the gathering of wild plants and hunting. Cowlitz canoes were used for fishing as well as for river travel.
Behind the canoe is a mural by Portland artist Jennifer Cutshall showing the river and some Cowlitz longhouses. In creating the mural, the artist consulted historical descriptions and illustrations of Cowlitz villages so that the mural shows an accurate picture of a village.
According to the Museum:
“In the late 1700s, more than 40 Cowlitz villages dotted the shoreline of the Cowlitz River. Each village consisted of a number of cedar plank longhouses, each home to several families.”
The canoe shown above was carved by Cowlitz Tribe member Robert Harju. It was carved for the museum.
According to the Museum:
“The canoe represents the type of canoe the Cowlitz people were using on the river in the 1800s. It has a ‘shovel nose,’ where someone could sit or stand and maneuver the craft with a pole.”
Note: These photographs were taken on October 19, 2024.
More American Indian museum exhibits
Indians 101: Cowlitz Indians and the fur trade (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Coastal canoes (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Tulalip Canoes (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Suquamish Canoes (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Some repatriated Tlingit artifacts (photo diary)
Indians 101: The Suquamish Museum (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Suquamish Basketry (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: The Kalama totem poles (photo diary)
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