The
Quileute , also known as
Quillayute , are a
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
people in western
WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
state in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, currently numbering approximately 750. The Quileute people settled onto the
Quileute Indian Reservation after signing the
Quinault TreatyThe Quinault Treaty was a treaty agreement between the United States and the Native American Quinault and Quileute tribes located in the western Olympic Peninsula north of Grays Harbor, in the recently-formed Washington Territory...
in 1855. It is located near the southwest corner of
Clallam County, WashingtonClallam County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of 2000, the population was 64,525. The county seat is at Port Angeles, which is also the county's largest city. "Clallam" derives from a Klallam word meaning "the strongpeople."...
at the mouth of the
Quillayute RiverThe Quillayute River is a river situated on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. It empties to the Pacific Ocean at La Push, Washington. The Quillayute River is formed by the confluence of the Bogachiel River and the Sol Duc River...
on the
Pacific coastA country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast facing the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Guatemala* Geography of El Salvador...
. The reservation's main population center is the community of
La Push, WashingtonLa Push is a small unincorporated community in Clallam County, Washington, United States. It is home to the Quileute Native American tribe and is located along the Quileute River. La Push is known for its surfing and whale-watching, as well as natural beauty. One of the main attractions of La Push...
. The
2000 censusThe Twenty-Second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
reported an official resident population of 371 people on the reservation, which has a land area of 4.061 km² (1.5678 sq mi, or 1,003.4
acreThe acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre....
s).They have their own government inside the United States that consists of a tribal council with staggered terms. The current tribal council consists of: Carol Hatch (chair), Tony Foster (vice-chair), DeAnna Hobson (secretary), and Anna Rose Counsell (treasurer).
The Quileute language belongs to the
ChimakuanThe Chimakuan language family consists of two languages spoken in northwestern Washington, USA on the Olympic Peninsula. It is part of the Mosan sprachbund, and one of its languages is famous for having no nasal consonants...
family of languages among Northwest Coast indigenous peoples. The Quileute language is one of a kind, as the only related aboriginal people to the Quileute, the
ChemakumThe Chemakum language was spoken by the Chemakum, a Native American group that once lived on western Washington state's Olympic Peninsula. The Chemakum language was very similar to the Quileute language...
, were wiped out by
Chief SeattleChief Seattle , Chief Seattle (an Anglicization of Si'ahl), Chief Seattle (an Anglicization of Si'ahl), , was a Dkhw’Duw’Absh (Duwamish) chief, also known as Sealth, Seathle, Seathl, or See-ahth, and a leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish Native American tribes in what is...
and the
SuquamishThe Suquamish are a Native American tribe of Washington State in the United States.The Suquamish are a southern Coast Salish people; they spoke a dialect of Lushootseed, which belongs to the Salishan language family...
people during the 1860s. The Quileute language is one of only five known languages lacking nasal sounds (i.e.,
m and
n).
Like many Northwest Coast natives, in pre-Colonial times the Quileute relied on fishing from local rivers and the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
for food and built plank houses (longhouses) to protect themselves from the harsh, wet winters west of the
Cascade MountainsThe Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...
. The Quileutes, along with the
MakahThe Makah are a Native American people from the northwestern corner of the Continental United States in Washington. The Makah tribe lives in and around the town of Neah Bay, Washington, a small fishing village along the Strait of Juan de Fuca where it meets the Pacific Ocean...
people, were once great
whalersWhaling is the hunting of whales which dates back to at least 3,000 BC. The evolution of traditional Arctic whaling developed with increasing rapidity by early organized fleets in the 17th century; competitive national whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of...
.
Craftsmanship
The Quileutes were very talented builders and craftsmen. Like many other tribes in the region, they were excellent boat makers. They could make canoes for whaling, which could hold tons of cargo and many men. They had cedar canoes ranging in size from small boats that could hold two people to giant vessels up to 58 meters long and capable of holding up to 6,000 pounds. The modern Clipper Ship's hull uses a design very much like the canoes used by the Quileute's. The Quileutes used the resources from the land to make tools and other items. In the region, almost everything was made out of wood. Necessities like utensils, clothing, weapons, and even paints were made from the natural resources available to them. The Quileute Tribe is best known, as artists and craftsmen at least, for their woven baskets and dog hair blankets. The tribe would raise specially bred, woolly dogs for their hair, which they would spin and weave into blankets. They would also weave incredibly fine baskets that were so tightly woven that they could hold water. They could even boil water in some of them. Another example of their craftsmanship was the waterproof skirts and hats that they would make, using cedar, to shield against the heavy rainfall in the region.
Beliefs
The beliefs of the Quileute People have changed over time. They originally were a very spiritual people. The boys would go on quests to find their supernatural power once they reached puberty, if they wanted to. Yet, at a certan age, the power would wear off, or stop being put to use. They would perform the first salmon ceremony to ensure a good season.
They believed that each person had their own guardian and they would pray to it, along with the sun and Tsikáti (the universe). Much of their original religion was lost and forgotten after the Europeans came. James Island, an island visible from First Beach, has played a role in all aspects of Quileute beliefs and culture. Originally called "A-Ka-Lat" ("Top of the Rock"), it was used as a fortress to keep opposing tribes out and served as a burial ground for chiefs.
Told much in Quileute folklore, the Quileutes descended from wolves. Quileute myths proclaim that the two sided mythical character known as Dokibatt and K’wa’iti was responsible for creating the first ever person of the Quileute tribe, known as the Alpha, by transforming a wolf. This creation story takes on a life of its own. In the beginning there were six tribal societies that represented the elk hunter, the whale hunter, the fisherman, the weather predictor, and the medicine man. The medicine man honored the creator with the wolf dance. Quileute folklore is still very much alive in the area of the Quileute Nation near La Push, inhabited by many descendants of the original tribe.
Language
The Quileute tribe is probably most well known for their unique language. They speak a language, called Quileute or Quillayute, which is part of the Chimakuan family of languages. The Chimakum, who also spoke a Chimakuan language, called Chemakum, Chimakum, or Chimacum were the only other group of people to speak a language from this
language familyA language family is a group of languages related by descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family.As with biological families, the evidence of relationship is observable shared characteristics...
. The Chimakum were almost wiped out in an encounter with Chief Sea'th'l (Seattle) and the
SuquamishThe Suquamish are a Native American tribe of Washington State in the United States.The Suquamish are a southern Coast Salish people; they spoke a dialect of Lushootseed, which belongs to the Salishan language family...
tribe in 1850, leaving them with only about 90 people in 1855, and they were wiped out completely in 1860 in another encounter with Chief Sea'th'l and his tribe. Since the 1940s, the Chemakum language has died out completely.
But the Quileute language is still in use today, though it is in
dangerAn endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language.The total number of contemporary languages in the world is not known...
of dying out. It is spoken by only tribal elders at La Push, and some of the
MakahThe Makah are a Native American people from the northwestern corner of the Continental United States in Washington. The Makah tribe lives in and around the town of Neah Bay, Washington, a small fishing village along the Strait of Juan de Fuca where it meets the Pacific Ocean...
people. The Quileute language is different from any other spoken in the world. This is because it uses no nasal sounds. The language has no "m" or "n" nasal sounds. The words in Quileute were very long and could sometimes express ideas rather than only words. The Quileute used one word for "those are the people who think that I am the one who is going to Forks," but, the word,
kitlayakwokwilkwolasstaxasalas, is hardly shorter than the sentence. The tribe is now trying to prevent the loss of the language by teaching it in the Quileute Tribal School using books written for the students by the tribal elders. The Kings family was a big part of the tribe.
Relationship with the white settlers
The Quileute relationship with the white European and American settlers was similar to many other tribes' experiences. The first contact occurred in 1775 when a Spanish ship missed its landing and the Quileutes took them as slaves. Therefore, right from the start, the Quileutes were looked upon by Europeans as vicious. This happened again in 1787 with a British ship and in 1808 with a Russian ship. The first official negotiations with Americans occurred in 1855 when Isaac I. Stevens and the Quileute signed the Treaty of Olympia. It said that the Quileute people needed to relocate to the Quinault reservation.
"ARTICLE 1. The said tribes and bands hereby cede, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their right, title, and interest in and to the lands and country occupied bye them…"
Article 11 of the Treaty of Olympia was a single sentence:
"ARTICLE 11. The said tribes and bands agree to free all slaves now held by them, and not to purchase or acquire others hereafter."
This article took away an integral part of the culture of the Northwest Coastal tribes, the rights to possessions and slaves. Their culture had been focused on possessions and they had always owned slaves, but upon entering the U.S. they were forced to give up a key part of their unique history and culture. Later, in 1882, A.W. Smith came to La Push to teach the native children. He made a school there and started change the names of the people from tribal names to ones from the bible. In 1889, after years of this not being enforced, President Cleveland gave the Quileute tribe the La Push reservation. 252 residents moved there and in 1894, 71 people from the Hoh River got their own reservation. Unfortunately, in 1889 a settler who wanted the land at La Push started a fire that burned down all the houses on the reservation, along with destroying all the artifacts from the days before the Europeans came.
Twilight series
The tribe features prominently in
Stephenie MeyerStephenie Meyer is an American author, known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition, won multiple literary awards and sold over 70 million copies worldwide, with translations into 37 different languages around the globe...
's
Twilight series. In the books, some members of the Quileute tribe are capable of
shapeshiftingShapeshifting is a common theme in mythology and folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is when a being undergoes a transformation. Commonly the transformation is purposeful, and not a curse or spell...
into wolves, becoming spirit wolves, which are similar to werewolves but quite different, in mythology and origin. They are enemies of vampires. Characters in the series who are Quileute in origin include
Jacob BlackJacob Black is a fictional character in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. He is described as a Native American of the Quileute tribe in La Push, near Forks, Washington. In the second book of the series, he undergoes a transformation that allows him to morph into a wolf. For the majority of...
, Sam Uley, Jared, Paul, Leah Clearwater, Seth Clearwater, Quil Ateara, and Embry Call.
Spirit Quest by Susan Sharpe, written 1991
Eleven-year-old Aaron Singer spends part of his summer vacation on the Quileute Indian Reservation in Washington, where he becomes friends with Robert, a Quileute boy. At the encouragement of his family, who no longer incorporate many of their traditions into daily life, Robert attends tribal school to learn Quileute language and culture. At Aaron's urging, the boys go together on their version of a "spirit quest," where Aaron finds and saves a trapped eagle. Though he admires and respects Robert's culture, Aaron wistfully realizes that he can never be a part of it the way Robert is. Aaron's initially romantic view is replaced by deeper understanding.
Saving Cascadia by John J. Nance, written 2005
The tribe plays a minor role in the book, being the southern neighbors to the fictional Quaalatch Nation who owned Cascadia Island. Also the namesake of the Quileute Quiet Zone, a fictional area of the Cascadia Subduction Zone so named for the lack of tremors in the area, hinting to a great buildup of locked pressure, the future source of the 'Big One'.
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