It is living cultural heritage.

The technology documented in the Ozette whaling equipment, the forms of canoes, the specific construction of harpoon gear: these are not merely museum objects.

They are records of practices that the Makah community is actively engaged in reclaiming, understanding, and adapting to contemporary circumstances.

The Makah Language Program, the canoe culture revival, the various cultural education initiatives that the Makah Tribal Council and the Makah Cultural and Research Center support: all of these connect the contemporary community to the cultural heritage that the Ozette collection documents.

The relationship is not one of recovery of a lost tradition.