If you have visited the Columbia River Maritime Museum recently, you might have noticed some changes and developments, including the addition of fresh gallery space. We’re also in the process of installing a new permanent exhibit, titled “Cedar and Sea,” which will open to the public Nov. 1.

This thoroughly immersive exhibition is designed to illustrate and celebrate the intimate cycle of life between cedar, salmon and sea, as well as the people who’ve made—and continue to make—their living along the Pacific Coast, from Oregon to Alaska.

Throughout the exhibit, visitors will “meet” six remarkable Knowledge Givers in film portraits shot on location in their native homelands, which include present day Washington; Alaska; and Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Indigenous master carvers, a weaver, a gatherer of forest materials, and a fisherman all share their work and speak about their knowledge as a continuum passed from generation to generation over millennia.

Storyline Studio, out of Bothell, Washington, is designing the exhibit, and British Columbia-based Three Dimensional Services (3DS) is assisting with the installation. Our museum staff has collaborated closely with them about the vision, intention, and layout for the “Cedar and Sea” exhibit.

Our vision is to open visitors’ minds to a story they may know in fragments but not as a whole. For more than a thousand generations, Indigenous people passed along their deep knowledge of ways to harvest the forest and the sea. They continue do so today.

Museum-goers will get to see a wide selection of tools and implements—166 artifacts in all—that are fashioned from stone, bone, shell, wood, and other natural materials and that represent thousands of years of innovation by coastal Indigenous peoples.

Yet, while the exhibition presents a fascinating collection of objects, this is not about things. It’s about place—the cedar forest and the sea—and the people who passed down a deep knowledge that continues to this day.

According to representatives from Storyline Studio, two things drive the exhibition’s design: A sense of place and the traditional values of the coastal peoples. We take the visitor through the forest, to the ocean shore, and then out to sea using immense, immersive photography.

These remarkable panoramic views were taken by Tyler Roemer, one of America’s foremost outdoor photographers. Tyler ventured to the remote site of Ozette (one of the country’s oldest coastal archaeological sites) on the wild Olympic Peninsula.

The exhibition is being organized into four distinct areas. First, there’s The Forest, which features a visual walk through a cathedral forest and an introduction to the cedar, also known as the “Tree of Life.”

Next, the Gathering Basket evokes a woven cedar basket. Displayed in the “weave” is a treasure trove of natural materials that people have used and still use to fashion homes, clothing, tools and canoes.

From there, visitors can move onto the Traditional Arts section, comprised of a huge circular space bounded by cedar forest on one side and glorious ocean shore on the other. Above is a circular ceiling cloud inspired by traditional Salish designs. This space displays an array of beautiful objects—some functional, some decorative—that are mostly fashioned from cedar.

The final area, Fishing, takes the visitor “out to sea,” so to speak, where they can learn how people used Ingenious tools and methods to harvest the ocean waters by using their intimate understanding of the natural world.

Cedar and Sea intentionally has few straight lines. The spaces are meant to feel organic and reflective of the movement, shapes, and patterns found in the natural environment on the Pacific Coast. Forest moves to shore to sea. The curvilinear design reflects traditional Native values and design. Additionally, every object in the exhibit has a story, and the designer tried to bring them to life, showing how things were made using colorful illustrations by renowned illustrator, Karen Lewis.

We are excited to share this story with you and hope you’ll join us for the opening in November. The Columbia River Maritime Museum is located at 1792 Marine Dr. in Astoria. For more details about “Cedar and Sea” and to stay up to date with information about its opening, visit our website or call us at (503) 325-2323.