See the Treaty of Point Elliott, exhibit on 'The Power of Words' at Tulalip Cultural Center

166 years ago this past Friday, on Jan. 22, 1855, the Treaty of Point Elliott was signed in what is now Mukilteo, Washington. The document is the source of much power for many local tribes today, but it wasn’t always that way. It’s celebrated every year in tribal ceremonies that are open to outsiders.

The COVID-19 pandemic is preventing them this year, but those ceremonies date back for as long as anyone remembers. And there is a replica of the treaty that you can go see at a cultural center on the land of the Tulalip Tribes, north of Seattle, near Marysville. The Hibulb Cultural Center, which first opened in August 2001, also has a partial replica of a traditional longhouse and a hall of historic canoes.