The people of the Tulalip tribes would traditionally spend the winter in their longhouses situated in permanent villages. During the winter months, a great deal of teaching would take place around the longhouse fires. During this time, the elders would pass on the family stories, songs, lineages, and moral teachings. According to the display:
“Our songs, dances, stories, basket designs and carvings are owned by certain families and are used only with their permission. Ownership of this knowledge may be given by families to particular family members, other selected people, or the whole tribe. We have a strict process of granting rights and permission to use this type of knowledge.”
![8890 photo DSCN8890_zps67f2cf75.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Tulalip/Tulalip%20Longhouse/DSCN8890_zps67f2cf75.jpg)
Shown above is the entrance to the longhouse in the Hibulb Culture Center.
![8891 photo DSCN8891_zpsd10f2b41.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Tulalip/Tulalip%20Longhouse/DSCN8891_zpsd10f2b41.jpg)
![8899 photo DSCN8899_zpsb4e35dc6.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Tulalip/Tulalip%20Longhouse/DSCN8899_zpsb4e35dc6.jpg)
![8894 photo DSCN8894_zpsb03fda4e.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Tulalip/Tulalip%20Longhouse/DSCN8894_zpsb03fda4e.jpg)
The poles shown above were carved about 1914 by William Shelton. As a young boy in the 1870s, he had been to the great potlatch house at Skagit Bay Head. In 1912, he advocated for a longhouse to be built on the Tulalip Bay. These posts were carved for this longhouse according to his childhood memories of the posts at the great potlatch house. The television screen provides visitors with the stories of the Tulalip peoples.
![8892 photo DSCN8892_zpsa544de6f.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Tulalip/Tulalip%20Longhouse/DSCN8892_zpsa544de6f.jpg)
![8896 photo DSCN8896_zpsaec7d12e.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Tulalip/Tulalip%20Longhouse/DSCN8896_zpsaec7d12e.jpg)
![8956 photo DSCN8956_zps46ad36ee.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Tulalip/Tulalip%20Longhouse/DSCN8956_zps46ad36ee.jpg)
Shown above is the outside of the longhouse showing the shed roof configuration. Coast Salish houses were often built in a shed style with the roof pitched because of the great width of the structure.
Cross Posted at Native American Netroots
An ongoing series sponsored by the Native American Netroots team focusing on the current issues faced by American Indian Tribes and current solutions to those issues.