The Pacific Northwest is home to a large community of Filipinos and Filipino Americans. The history and contributions of Filipinos in the Pacific Northwest are not widely discussed, but stories of labor, activism and civil rights, and migration are finely woven within the fabric of the greater Seattle area. While the Burke does not often store contemporary Filipino American materials, cultural collections still facilitate connection and belonging to the homeland, for diasporic communities.
Students in a class called “Critical Filipinx American Histories” taught by Dr. Rick Bonus participated in an ebook project in 2019 that involved interactions with Philippine belongings and imbued them with new meaning through class topics and reflections. Since then, there has been growing interest and initiatives in the Philippine collections. Knowledge Kapamilya began in 2024 as a cohort of Filipino/a/x American students who use collections and kwentuhan (Filipino talk-story) to learn about Philippine and Filipino American history. Their reflections were also published in an open-access ebook.
Read the full article Collection | Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture | Mapping Philippine Material Culture.