People/Products

When the U.S. government subjugated Native American territories in the 19th century, the loss of communality was one of the most destructive consequences. With the tribes’ traditional ways of living, working, and celebrating together severely curtailed or outlawed, communal architecture, exemplified by the longhouse, became untenable. But in recent decades, the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe of the Pacific Northwest, like many others, has been reacquiring their lands, rebuilding, and restoring their traditions and rituals. The Muckleshoot’s new Smokehouse, built on their reservation near Tacoma, Washington, marks the tribe’s first longhouse in over a century.