A new visitor center being built at the Salish Lodge & Spa is hoping to teach guests about the Snoqualmie Tribe and its connection to the falls.

Renovations are underway at the hotel’s current gift shop to build The Snoqualmie Falls sduk^w albix^w Gift Shop and Visitor Center. The new center, set to open this spring, will tell the Tribe’s story, history and the importance of Snoqualmie Falls, which is sacred to the Tribe.

Tribal Chairman Robert de los Angeles said it is important for the Snoqualmie Falls over 2 million annual visitors to be familiar with the Tribe’s story and ancestral lands.

“We want to make sure they are aware of how important and sacred this site is to the Snoqualmie People, how we have cared for it since time immemorial and the need to protect it from continued desecration,” he said in a press release.

The Tribe has owned the land near Snoqualmie Falls, including the Salish Lodge, since 2019, when they purchased it from the Muckleshoot Tribe for $125 million. That purchase halted a planned, city-backed development project near the falls known as the Salish Lodge Expansion.

What makes the visitor center exciting, de los Angeles said, is it allows the Tribe to tell its story directly, in an authentic and educational way.

The new center will place emphasis on the Tribe’s history, culture and people. It will include Snoqualmie art, educational and cultural resources and a café.

Alongside improvements at the visitor center, the Tribe kicked-off a $400 million expansion on its reservation this summer. That two-year project will add a new hotel, event center and expand the casino.