The Ancestral (Pre-1851)
As we come together in a collective to imagine the year 2177, we first ground ourselves in the deep history of the Lower Duwamish Estuary. We acknowledge the People of the Inside (Dxʷdəwʔabš), who for thousands of years have cared for Duwamish River Watershed.
To this day, the river remains a living relative, and its history continues to sustain and guide. Before we begin our journey, we honor the Duwamish Tribe and Coast Salish elders—past, present, and future.
The Waterlines Project, developed in the early 2000s through a collaboration involving the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and University of Washington researchers, is a seminal historical and creative endeavor that reconstructs Seattle’s lost landscapes. Its centerpiece—a detailed map of the region circa 1850—reveals the original course of the Duwamish River, the vanished Black River, and the vast tideflats that once defined South Seattle. Led by figures including Amir Sheikh, Donald Fels, and Peter Lape, the project brings together science, art, and history to visualize environmental change from the end of the last ice age to modern urbanization.