Tillicum Village is a
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...
area
visitor attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural ...
located on
Blake Island
Blake Island is a Puget Sound island in Kitsap County, Washington, United States, that is preserved as Blake Island Marine State Park. The island lies north of Vashon Island, south of Bainbridge Island, and east of Manchester. On the northeast e ...
, a
Washington State Park
Washington State Park is a public recreation area covering in Washington County in the central eastern part of the state of Missouri. It is located on Highway 21 about northeast of Potosi or southwest of DeSoto on the eastern edge of the O ...
accessible only by boat, which is off the shore of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington. Founded in 1962 by Bill Hewitt, control of Tillicum Village was sold to
Argosy Cruises in 2009. Argosy Cruises operated the Tillicum Excursion, a four-hour cruise from
Pier 55 in central Seattle to Tillicum Village and back, from 2009 to 2021.
Facilities and tourism
![Salmon-fire-long-house-Tillicum-Village-Blake-Island-State-Park-Washington-state](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Salmon-fire-long-house-Tillicum-Village-Blake-Island-State-Park-Washington-state.jpg)
Tillicum Village occupies approximately 5 acres (2 ha) of leased land within Blake Island State Park.
The Tillicum Excursion includes a greeting from Tillicum village employees costumed in Northwest Coastal Native tribal costume. Outside the
longhouse
A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America.
Many were built from timber and often rep ...
, visitors are given a cup of clams and broth (clam nectar). Inside, the longhouse is decorated in art by members of Northwest Coastal Natives and a cooking display shows whole
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
being cooked on cedar stakes over an alder wood fire in a traditional style. Guests eat a buffet meal featuring the just-cooked salmon,
after which a 25-minute performance is provided including filmed storytelling by Roger Fernandes of the
Klallam
Klallam (also Clallam, although the spelling with "K" is preferred in all four modern Klallam communities) refers to four related indigenous Native American/First Nations communities from the Pacific Northwest of North America. The Klallam cult ...
tribe illustrated by the Tillicum Village dancers, who wear traditional masks.
After the performance, visitors can interact with the performers and walk along the beaches and trails of the island.
Visitors can also camp on Blake Island and visit the Tillicum Village longhouse independently.
[
]
History
Bill Hewitt, a local restaurant owner, founded Tillicum Village in 1962, the year of the Seattle World's Fair
The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States.[British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...]
tribes[ and provided by Thompson's, a locally based theatrical production company. There were 100,000 visitors in 1978.][ The facilities and show were updated in 2011.]
In 1993, President Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
hosted the first Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. forum in the Tillicum Village longhouse.
In 2021, Argosy Cruises ended its Tillicum Excursion due to revenue losses attributed to the COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
pandemic.[
]
See also
* Tilikum (disambiguation)
* Tilikum Place
References
External links
"Neighbors want ballot box in Tillicum Village"
September 1, 2016. KING-TV.
{{Coord, 47, 32, 30, N, 122, 28, 57, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-WA
Culture of Seattle
History of Seattle
Tourist attractions in Seattle
Buildings and structures in Seattle