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Coast Salish Peoples: Overview

We would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present and honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe.

'People of the Salish Sea (Coast Salish)' from the film 'Clearwater'

Coast Salish

The Coast Salish are a group of ethnically and linguistically related peoples whose ancestral lands surround Puget Sound to as far south as the mouth of the Columbia River, and as far north as the Gulf of Georgia. They encompass southeastern Vancouver Island and the southern mainland of western British Columbia. Metropolitan Seattle is located on the ancestral lands of the Duwamish Tribe, of Coast Salish. 

View a map of the Coast Salish region and cultural groups (PDF) from the Burke Museum.

Coast Salish Welcome Song