One morning, on a whim, I said to my wife, “let’s go check out the Burke Museum.” So, we did. In long form, the museum is known as the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. In short form, simply, The Burke. It had been many years since we visited back when the kids were young. Our kids are all grown up now. The Burke is now housed in a brand new, very modern building, one we had not visited.
To get there we took the Sound Transit light rail (the 1 Line) from the Lynnwood station and hopped off at the U-District station. From there it was an easy two block walk to the museum. It’s hard not to extol the virtues of this region’s expanding network of light rail. I spent a lifetime navigating LA and Seattle traffic only to have this convenience become a reality as I entered retirement life.
This Bucket includes photos and a narrative of our visit. If you want to see the photos in larger scale, click on my flickr album and scroll through the photos (try the slide show button): Photo Album
The Burke has an extensive collection of Northwest native art and objects. I was fascinated by how the art and objects reflect their relationship to nature and stories told in the art forms; stories passed down through generations. Simple everyday tools are made with incredible detail, imbued with the spirits of the natural materials used in their construction. This relationship between humans and the natural world is circular, that we are part of it, connected to it. I want to take this feeling with me with each walk and hike that I do.
Let’s walk through the museum.
Woven in Wool: Resilience in Coast Salish Weaving is a special exhibit that runs through August 30, 2026.
Reading the following left panel reinforced to me the theme of this exhibit. Note the brilliant rose-purple fireweed shown in the right panel.
Fireweed fluff
That fireweed fluff is used in Northwest native weaving was a mind blower to me. It’s a beautiful native perennial that grows everywhere here. Fireweed even grows in the far reaches of our home landscape. It just showed up a few years and is slowly spreading. The flowers are visited by many insects and the plant is the primary larval host to several butterfly species.
Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) growing in our yard. 8/1/24
That the Salish peoples bred and kept dogs for their long, luxurious wool was another mind blower. This breed was known as the Woolly Dog. The breed had died out for the obvious reasons you know or can imagine. Please enjoy reading through the panels. The pelt of a Woolly Dog named Mutton was preserved (third panel down).
Mutton, the Woolly Dog
The biology exhibit was pretty amazing. Let’s look.
Cowrie shells
The cat family represented.
The Burke has three floors of exhibits and laboratories where you can look in and see what they’re doing. They could be preparing fossils or stuffing bird skins. It’s very cool.
Displayed in one of the laboratory windows was this Rufous Hummingbird.
Paleontology and fossils!
Elasmosaurus
Elasmosaurus
Ichthyosaur
Allosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Saber-toothed Tiger (Smilodon)
A wall was devoted to depicting a geologic timescale in Washington from the Eocene to the present that included rocks, fossils, and a graph showing climate variations through the periods.
The Eocene epoch in Washington
An archeological exhibit included relatively recent things from early Seattle. These artifacts showed what life was like then. Also shown were the human-induced landscape changes from regrades to river course changes. I liked this display of unearthed bottles. Early in my career I spent considerable time in the field overseeing mass excavation of contaminated soil; me the guy with the cleanest hardhat holding a clipboard. The largest project I was involved with was the construction of the REI Flagship store in Seattle. Among the things uncovered were glass bottles and other trash. I have a collection of unearthed bottles including a Worcestershire sauce bottle exactly like the one displayed.
Worcestershire sauce bottle
I hope you enjoyed this tour and have a chance to visit The Burke someday if you haven’t already.
What’s up in your natural world? Please mention any natural history or cultural museums you’ve visited and enjoyed.
|
THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS
ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS.
WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU
IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD,
AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF THE DAILY BUCKET FEATURE,
CHECK OUT THIS DIARY:
DAILY BUCKET PHENOLOGY: 14 YEARS OF RECORDING EARTH'S VITAL SIGNS
IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
|
