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

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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

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,

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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.

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

Facilities and tourism

History

See also

References

External links