A 25-foot-long dugout canoe was found eroding out of a muddy bank of the Green River, south of Seattle more than 50 years ago (Figure 1). It was recently rediscovered in the Burke Museum collection and identified as an unusual type of river canoe called S.deXwit.

Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Cultural staff of the Burke Museum have launched a research project, with the help from a grant from Traditional Small Craft Association’s John Gardner Fund, to study this rare type of canoe made and used by Coast Salish peoples for hunting, fishing and travel in rivers and estuaries. This collaborative research highlights important aspects of local canoe traditions, specialized technologies adapted for the Pacific Northwest’s extensive inland river systems, and the continuing deep cultural connections to these places.  As part of the research project archaeologists, tribal historians and carvers, will stabilize and document the canoe, as well as carve a replica.