• Visit
    • Museum Accessibility
    • Community Access
    • Group Visits and Tours
    • Programs
      • History Café
      • MOHAI Mercantile Literary Series
      • First Thursday
      • Denny Lecture
      • Al Young Educator of the Year
      • Everyday Heroes
    • MOHAI Mercantile
    • Gourmondo at MOHAI
  • Exhibits
  • Events
  • Collections and Research
    • Collections Search
    • Themed Collections
    • Research Library
    • Image Ordering
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Curator’s Fellowship
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Membership at MOHAI
    • Gift Memberships
    • Corporate Support
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • Self-Guided School Year Explorations
      • Creating Our Community
      • Cracking the History Code: Salish Stories
      • Cracking the History Code: Settling Around the Sound
      • Hands on History
      • Self-Guided Summer Field Trips
      • Homeschool Group
    • Portable Museum Program
    • Scholarships
    • Education FAQ
    • Primary Source Analysis
    • Online Curricula
    • Teen Programs
    • Idea Lab
    • Discovery Packs
    • Summer Camps
  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • The MOHAI Blog
    • Contact MOHAI
    • Opportunities
    • Leadership
    • Private Events
  • Donate
  • Tickets
  • Membership
HomeCollections and ResearchCollections Search

Collections Search

Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

Download lower resolution images directly from an item page. MOHAI offers high-resolution digital reproductions of photographs and other materials from our collections for personal and professional use.

We have many more items in our collections and not everything you see online is on view at the museum. We have additional materials online at the University of Washington’s Digital Collections.

MOHAI Statement on Harmful Content

Search by Collection

Not finding what you are looking for?
Ask the MOHAI Collections Staff

50 results for: Cultural Appropriation

Share:
Image of Sourdough Club on ship
Photograph

Sourdough Club on ship "Portland" during Golden Potlatch, Seattle, July 17, 1912

The Tilikums of Elttaes were a fraternal civic organization composed primarily of influential white Seattle area businessmen, who used Native American imagery to promote tourism and the economic development of the city. The appropriation of culture in order to market products or events is a common example of discrimination and marginalization faced by Indigenous peoples in the United States. In…
ID Number:1954.776.1
Date:1912
Image of The Potlatch Bug: A Ragtime Song of the Golden Potlatch
Music, notated

The Potlatch Bug: A Ragtime Song of the Golden Potlatch

The Tilikums of Elttaes were a fraternal, civic organization composed primarily of influential white Seattle area businessmen, who used Native American imagery to promote tourism and the economic development of the city. In July 1911 the Tilikums ("Friends" in Chinook Jargon;" Elttaes" is Seattle spelled backward) organized the first Golden Potlatch celebration. The Golden Potlatch was a city-wide festival held…
ID Number:1963.3018.3
Date:1912
Image of Golden Potlatch ad, Seattle, 1911
Poster

Golden Potlatch ad, Seattle, 1911

The Tilikums of Elttaes were a fraternal, civic organization composed primarily of influential white Seattle area businessmen, who used Native American imagery to promote tourism and the economic development of the city. In July 1911 the Tilikums ("Friends" in Chinook Jargon; "Elttaes" is "Seattle" spelled backward) organized the first Golden Potlatch celebration. The Golden Potlatch was a city-wide festival held…
ID Number:1963.3018.4.1
Date:1911
Image of Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition promotional postcard, Seattle, circa 1909
Postcard

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition promotional postcard, Seattle, circa 1909

Promotional photograph for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle, with illustrations connecting Seattle to Alaska (including with an Alaska Native totem pole), which encourages people to arrive by steamship and railroad. Caption on image: Hello Bill! Meet me on the Pay Streak at the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition - June 1st - Oct 16th - Seattle U.S.A. 1909.Postcard Number: 1853
ID Number:1966.4058.8
Date:Circa 1909
Image of Seattle's Plenty Good Enough for Me
Music, notated

Seattle's Plenty Good Enough for Me

By 1908, Seattle had seen eleven years of rapid growth and prosperity, beginning in 1897 with the arrival of the first shipment of gold from the Yukon gold fields. "Seattle's Plenty Good Enough for Me" was one of a number of songs written at that time promoting the Pacific Northwest's good climate for business and trade. This marketing and development…
ID Number:1969.4635.6
Date:1908
Image of Suess Art Glass float for Potlatch parade, Seattle, circa 1920
Photograph

Suess Art Glass float for Potlatch parade, Seattle, circa 1920

In this image employees of the Suess Art Glass Company, dressed for a parade, pose in front of the company building at 764 Virginia Street in downtown Seattle. The company had begun in 1901, a few months after third-generation glazer and founder John Bernard Suess (1875-1930) moved to Seattle from Chicago with his wife, Bertha (Stumpf) Suess (1876-), and daughter…
ID Number:1971.5110.2
Date:Circa 1920
Image of See Seattle: Official Song and Waltz of the A.Y.P. Exposition
Music, notated

See Seattle: Official Song and Waltz of the A.Y.P. Exposition

The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition was held on the University of Washington campus from June 1 to October 16, 1909. The fair celebrated the years of prosperity brought to the city since the first gold arrived from Alaska in 1897. “See Seattle” was promoted as "the official song and waltz of the A-Y-P Exposition," but many pieces were written to promote Seattle’s…
ID Number:1975.6130.1
Date:1909
Image of Cole Brothers Circus and War Bonds poster, August 1943
Poster

Cole Brothers Circus and War Bonds poster, August 1943

William Washington Cole (1847-1915) began "W. W. Cole's Colossal Circus" in 1871 in Quincy, Illinois. In 1904 Cole sold his circus to Canadian showman Martin Downs and his son, James, the name became "Cole Bros. Circus." The show almost shut down during the Depression, but in 1934 two veteran circus managers -- Jesse Adkins (1886–1940) and Zack Terrell (1879–1954) --…
ID Number:1975.6159.3.11
Date:1943
Image of Café Olympus New Year's booklet, 1912
Ephemera

Café Olympus New Year's booklet, 1912

The Olympus Café opened about 1898 at 112 1st Avenue South, "Situated right in the business district of Seattle ... Just South of the Totem Pole." This small booklet, printed with New Year's greetings, includes promotional text and a photo of the cafe's "Venetian Room."On each left-hand page is the emblem of the Golden Potlatch "Bug," which advertised the summer…
ID Number:1976.6296.7
Date:1912
Image of Portrait of Potlatch King Edgar L. Webster, Seattle, 1911
Photograph

Portrait of Potlatch King Edgar L. Webster, Seattle, 1911

The Tilikums of Elttaes were a fraternal, civic organization composed primarily of influential white Seattle area businessmen who used imagery common to local Indigenous Peoples to promote tourism and the economic development of the city. In July 1911 the Tilikums ("Friends" in Chinook Jargon; Elttaes is Seattle spelled backward) organized the first Golden Potlatch celebration. The Golden Potlatch was a…
ID Number:1977.6531.2
Date:1911
1 2 3 … 5 Next

Land Acknowledgement

MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
Address: 860 Terry Ave N, Seattle WA, 98109
Phone: 206 324 1126
  • Plan a Visit
  • Directions and Parking
  • Accessibility
  • Group Tours
  • About

Sign up to Receive our Newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright 2026, Museum of History & Industry. All Rights Reserved