Making Collections-Based Research More Accessible

An exciting new development is now available on the Burke Museum’s Web site: the Burke Museum Publications Database is a new online tool that makes collections-based research at the museum more accessible to all!

This new Web page presents the different ways Burke Museum collections are used for published research. Not only do Burke professionals conduct their own research, but the museum also collaborates with other researchers worldwide by providing access to Burke collections; this research often ends up published in scientific journals for others to access in the future.

The Burke’s Genetic Resources Collection (GRC) Manager Sharon Birks worked with our web team to build a search engine of about 260 publications from the GRC division alone! Most publications have a short summary (abstract), and Sharon also wrote more in-depth introductions to three highlighted publications that experts and novices alike can appreciate. These three highlighted publications on the research from Genetic Resources are posted here.

In the future, other Burke collections divisions will add their publications to the websites as well. So check the pages regularly to read about more exciting findings and watch the database grow!

Posted By: Andrea Barber, Communications

The Enduring Power of Totem Poles

About a year ago, we launched a special Web site called The Enduring Power of Totem Poles. It has since won the 2009 CASE award for best Web site. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the history of totem poles ought to explore the site a bit. You might learn something about totem poles that you did not know, such as:

• Totem poles, which are defined as free-standing columns with many figures, are not actually indigenous to Washington State. Even though totem pole imagery can be found all over the place in Seattle, it was the northern Northwest Coast groups (Nuu-Chah-Nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw, Tlingit, etc.) that carved totem poles, not the Coast Salish people surrounding the Puget Sound. It’s a common misconception that totem pole carving was practiced near present-day Seattle, but it is not historically or culturally accurate. The totem poles standing outside the Burke Museum are all replicas of poles from Canadian or Alaskan-based tribes.



• Totem poles are not only historical objects; up and down the Northwest Coast, poles are being raised again in a spirit of cultural survival and revival.



• The Burke Museum has been very active in the repatriation of poles and other clan treasures that were taken from communities along the Northwest Coast in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Enduring Power of Totem Poles tells the story of two of the Teikweidi clan’s houseposts, taken from the Tlingit village of Gaash (Cape Fox, AK) by an American railroad magnate in 1899 and donated to a young Burke Museum. In July 2001, along with four other North American museums, the Burke returned the posts and other clan treasures to the Tlingit people of Cape Fox and acknowledged the wrong that had been done. Two new houseposts were created for the Burke Museum by father and son, Nathan and Stephen Jackson, to replace the two posts that were repatriated and are now on display in the Pacific Voices exhibit.

For more fascinating stories about totem poles and the people who make them, visit the Enduring Power of Totem Poles site:

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

Photo: Replica of Tsimshian Memorial Pole, carved by Bill Holm in 1969, now standing in front of the Burke Museum

Discovering Seattle's past through maps

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

150 years ago Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle was a lagoon and thought of as the best place to catch flounders. Early settlers quickly realized that flat, and dry land for that matter, was a limited resource. After 1853 Seattle’s early pioneers slowly started filling the lagoon with whatever they could find: sawdust from Yesler’s Mill, building remains from the Great Fire of 1889, gravel and garbage. These materials formed the foundation from which Seattle was born.

How do we know this? Through research using maps, illustrations, photographs, and written historical accounts, most of which are held in the public domain.

So what is the connection to the Burke? The Waterline’s Project! An interdisciplinary team, lead by Peter Lape, Burke curator of archaeology, Amir Sheikh, staff member on the Puget Sound River History Project, and Donald Fels, a researching artist have developed The Waterline’s Project to explore how Seattle’s landscape has changed over time. The Waterline’s Project is a fascinating way to explore the history of Seattle through maps.

The project website , which was recently posted on the Burke’s homepage, is just the first step in providing the public with a unique way of examining the history of Seattle. In addition to the new website the team is currently in the planning stage of creating outdoor exhibits, electronic broadcasts for handheld devices, and an installation of lines in Pioneer Square marking past shorelines.

Check it out!


Photo: Bird's eye view of the city of Seattle, Puget Sound, Washington Territory, 1878. A.L. Bancroft & Co., lithographersDrawn by E.S. GloverLibrary of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C

The Age of Dinosaurs

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

It's a dino-riffic week at the Burke Museum, with Dino Day approaching and the launch of a brand new interactive Burke Box called Age of Dinosaurs! Dozens of physical Burke Boxes travel the state visiting classrooms all over Washington, but online Interactive Burke Boxes make it even easier for educators anywhere to utilize the resources of the Burke Museum. This is the second Interactive Burke Box (with more on the way); the first was called Rocks and Minerals of Washington State.

Click here to launch Age of Dinosaurs and learn all about geologic time, evolution, and life as a paleontologist. And if you know any educators, pass along the word about this great new tool that makes teaching about dinosaurs easy and fun!

Burke Boxes "Rock"!

Posted by: Julia Swan

Two weeks ago I posted about the exciting launch of Burke Kids. This week, Burke staff celebrated the launch of another great web project: the new interactive Burke Box, “Rocks and Minerals of Washington State.” The Burke Museum has been offering traveling study collections to classrooms around Washington State for many years, but this is the first time we’ve been able to offer lesson plans, background information, and interactive teaching tools on the Web. The enhanced accessibility of the Burke Boxes makes it much easier for teachers across the state to bring a piece of the Burke Museum into the classroom.
“Rocks and Minerals of Washington State” is the first of many interactive, online Burke Boxes to come, so keep checking our website for more updates. In the meantime, you might learn something (like I did) by touring the “Rocks and Minerals Interactive.” I’m very impressed!

Burke launches cool new Web site for kids!

Posted by: Julia Swan

On Monday of this week, the Burke staff launched an exciting new Web site called Burke Kids. Burke Kids is an educational, interactive site for 6-12 year olds featuring fun games and learning opportunities. It’s a good way for kids to get to know not only the museum, but the people who work behind the museum. Learn what it’s like to be an archaeologist or build your own Northwest Coast mask!

A lot of work went into planning, writing, and building Burke Kids. It was truly a collaborative effort, with input from communications, education, Web services, and curatorial staff. I think the result is pretty amazing and something that really adds to the museum’s presence on the internet. I hope kids from all over will enjoy playing games and learning about anthropology, geology, and biology on the Burke Kids Web site!

We’re not the only museum to build Web sites aimed at kids. Check out the work of some of our peers around the country:

SmART Kids at the Smart Museum (University of Chicago)

Ology at the American Museum of Natural History (New York)

Diamond Ranch Web Site at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (Oklahoma City)

Test drive the Burke Kids Web site

Posted by: Rebecca (Durkin) Whitham

Got a kid in your life who loves to play on the computer?

We’re looking for kids ages 6 - 12 who are willing to test drive our brand new Burke Kids Web site. It’s filled with fun games and cool things to discover about the Burke, the natural world, and culture.

If you and your kid are free during Spring Break, from March 29 - April 11, make an appointment to come to the Burke for free, play on the site, and give us your feedback. You’ll even get a $10 gift card to Häagen-Dazs in return!

You can sign up online or contact us at burkepr@u.washington.edu or 206-616-5887.

- Rebecca