[1][2] In 2009 the Suquamish tribe launched a capital campaign to construct a new facility, enlisting Senator Patty Murray and former Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro to help lead the effort.

Constructed at a cost of $6 million, the 9,000-square-foot (840 m2) purpose-built structure is set in a small botanical garden on the Port Madison Indian Reservation and consists of two galleries, a gift shop, a 50-seat auditorium, and a climate-controlled storage room used to house artifacts not on display.

[4] In addition to a large repository of photographs documenting tribal life from the 1860s to the present, the museum's collection includes 496 archaeological artifacts recovered from the site of the former Old Man House, a massive, 240 meters (790 ft) long longhouse that served as the Suquamish capitol until its destruction in the late nineteenth century.

Originally in the custody of the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, the artifacts, which include harpoon points, smoking pipes, and jewelry, were transferred to the Suquamish tribe in 2013.

The controversial transfer was contested by the Duwamish, an unrecognized tribe and historic Suquamish rival who claim ownership of the artifacts.