Quileute Legends | Folklore | Myths | Stories

La Push is a small region of land almost an island unto itself on the northern west cost of Washington’s most westerly peninsula that does not come under the rule of any municipality and are free from taxes of any kind. It is situated in Clallam County, Washington, United States. La Push is a picturesque place with natural landscape and beauty. It is also famous for whale watching and surfing. La Push is part of the community, Quileute tribe, the northern western Native American tribe of North America of Indian Reservation and has lived here for thousands of years and manages the whole place themselves. This area is excellent for fishing conditions for king, Coho, Chinook silver salmon, halibut and Cod. The major tourist attractions are Ocean park resort near James beach, Olympic National Park Rialto Beach and James Island. The area is rich in flora and fauna and hence wildlife in natural form and millions of birds can be viewed here.

The closest city is Forks which is named after the forks in nearby rivers namely Sol, Ducs, Quillayute and Bagacheil. The population of this place is only three thousand to four thousand. The main sources of income earlier were by the timber industry. But recently people are relying on Clallam Bay Correction centre and Olympic Corrections Centre as a source of jobs. This city too is importantly used as a plot of story in twilight series of novels by Stephenie Meyer . The story is based on this place, La Push and Quileute tribe. In recent years, the city has gained notability for being a key setting in the movie Twilight.

The Quileute tribe have a language native to them only and does not use any “m” or “n” sounds featuring very long words. There is legend that says Quileute tribes were created from wolves by a supernatural power or the mythical icon named Dokibatt, K’w’att thought as the trickster, the transformer and the changer. Quileute tribes used to built Cedar Canoes of all sizes, as small as two men and as large as to be capable of carrying three tonnes of load. They are known as best sealers and the second best whalers. They bred special woolly hared dogs. The woolly hair of these dogs can be spun into precious blankets.

According to the stories, the Chimacum were Quileutes’ only kin. They were separated by a great flood. The Chimacum were swept to the Quimper Peninsula, and then wiped out by Chief Seattle and Suquamish tribe in 1860. The first contact of the modern world happened in 1855 when the Quileute tribes signed a treaty with representatives of Territorial Governor Issac Stevens. President Grover Cleveland in February 1889 gave an executive order to give one mile reservation to the Quileute community having 252 inhabitants at the time. The population decreased due to the destruction by arson in 1889.The people here in La Push celebrates from July 17 to July 19 as Quileute days. The people celebrate these Days with fireworks display with traditional salmon bake, dancing, singing, music, softball tournament, and many other sports,art and craft display and potlatch ceremonies.

Many people think that tribes exist in most parts of Africa but very few know that there is a tribal community in US capital, Washington DC. The Quileute, also known as Quillayute are the Native American people in Western part of Washington DC. The Quileute people settled in Washington in 1855 after signing a Quinault treaty. The Quileute have their own reservation who’s main population centre is the community of La Push, Washington. The population of this tribe is around 350 and they have their own government inside United States with a tribal council. The tribe has 640 acres reservation which lies in the mouth of Quillayute River in La Push which is encompassed by Olympic national park rainforest.

The Quileute dialect belongs to the Chimakuan family of languages. The Chimakum were the only other people to speak a language from this language family. The highlight of this language is that it lacks the nasal sounds (such as m and n). The tribe are still trying to hold the legacy of this language by teaching it in tribal schools. Like many Northwest coast natives, Quileute hunted sea mammals and fished for their living. They were highly talented in building boats and canoes. They made canoes for whaling, which could hold many tons of cargo and men. Apart from that they also made long dog hair into warm blankets, wove fine baskets which can hold water and made waterproof skirts and hats.

History quotes that a supernatural transformer fashioned the Quileute from wolves. Quileute believed in supernatural powers. The young people would go on a quest to find their supernatural power. They would perform the first salmon ceremony to ensure salmon spirit’s good will. They personally believe that each person is a guardian to himself, along with the sun and universe.

Quileute people remained isolated from other Native Americans. In 1775 when a Spanish explorers missed their landing, Quileute people took them as slaves and from then on Europeans termed them as ‘vicious’. They also shipwrecked the British and Russian ships in 1787 and 1808. In 1882, A.W.Smith started teaching the native children to educate the people. He also made a school and changed the people’s tribal names to the once in bible. In February 1889, the president gave Quileute tribe at La Push, the reservation. Unfortunately, in 1889, a settler set fire on all the houses on the reservation for the want of the land.

The story about the Quileute tribe has been written in many fiction books such as ‘Spirit Quest’ by Susan Sharp, ‘Saving Cascadia’ by John J. Nancy and the famous book called ‘Twilight series’. The Twilight Book pinpoints to Quileute tribe who transform themselves into spirit Wolves. Nearby Quillayute is a city called Forks, Washington which is a popular destination for tourists for sports fishing. Apart from that La Push also holds beautiful resorts, fish hatchery, seafood firm and even a small museum. Quileute day is staged in the mid of July which combines with a tribal celebration featuring salmon bake and arts and crafts display. This place can be an ideal place to enjoy your vacation.

Situated in Clallan County, Washington, there is an old American Indian dwelling place which exists within these modern times. La Push, Washington, is a settlement granted to the Quileute Tribe of American Indians back in the nineteenth century which still exists under its own governance today. The area itself is one of outstanding natural beauty, full of natural wildlife, which offers history as well as relaxation within its boundaries.

One of the great natural features of La Push is the incredibly sandy beach which runs along the Pacific Ocean. The surf here can be spectacular so is highly regarded as an area for surfing, as well as kayaking. For the more indolently inclined there are the delights of whale watching, viewing sea lions and looking at seals. The most spectacular feature within the ocean itself is the natural fort of James Island. This is a huge sea stack which sits just off the coast. A sea stack is essentially a small island which forms when part of the mainland is separated by constant erosion by the waves. James Island, now a sea stack separated from the land by the sea, is an island perfectly suited to its previous use as an island fort against invaders. In days gone by the Quiluete tribe used to defend themselves there from invading enemies, using boiling water poured down the stack to keep intruders away.

The village of La Push, Washington, is situated at the mouth of the Quillayute river which is surrounded by the Olympic National Park. The river itself is another draw for natural wildlife, in the form of birds. The most famous species to be spotted in this area are butter-heads, cormorants, golden-eyes, and eagles. It is possible to see eagles diving into the ocean to share a meal with the sealions.

In 1889 the La Push reservation was founded as an area for the Quileute tribe to reside in. The people were a tribe of Native Americans who were famous for owning possessions and keeping slaves. Theirs was a proud history of sea faring, boat building and whaling, and today more than eighty percent of the population of La Push is of Quileute descent. Today La Push is known as a sovereign nation as it is governed by the Quileute Tribal Council which operates with tribal powers. It overseas the museum of La Push, as well as holding power over land sales in the area and collection of taxes from businesses which operate there. Under this jurisdiction there is the marina, a fish hatchery, a health facility, businesses, and a variety of accommodation in the oceanfront resorts, ranging from rustic to luxurious.

In recent years the ‘Twilight Books’ penned by Stephanie Meyers, have increased the number of tourists to the area, as the books were set in the area, and they are welcomed by the Quiluete tribe. The tribe offers great hospitality as befits their many years of culture, but requests that burial grounds and religious ceremonies are kept as sacred. Fishing and logging are the two main sources of industry in the are though, in keeping with the long traditions. In the past the Quiluete tribe were famous whalers, but these days their interests are more focused on salmon, which are reared in the hatchery and then released into the Quilllayute river. Still though the fishing industry continues in the area as it has for centuries.

The appeal of La Push is that one can visit a sovereign nation within the United States, without crossing a border. There is history to be discovered in the past of the Quiluete Tribe whilst relaxing in the splendour of glorious natural scenery.

La Push, Washington is located in the westernmost region of the United States. The author Stephenie Meyer of the Twilight series fame uses La Push, Washington as the area to base her award winning books on. It has become a tourist attraction for those who want to see where she garnered her vast knowledge of the area. La Push, Washington is also home of the Quileute Tribe; they are Native Americans who number about 371. They settled on the Quileute Indian Reservation in 1855, at that time there were 750 natives. The people of the Quileute tribe have a similar story about how white settlers wanted to take their land by force. Their history is told about how a settler wanted their land and burned down their village to obtain it. This forced them to move to a reservation where they drafted a treaty and signed it with once sentence regarding slave ownership.

Forks Washington is part of the area that is considered in the Twilight series, it is fictional. The La Push, Washington Natives have their own government that consists of a chair, vice-chair and secretary as well as a treasurer. The Quileute language is very rare because it is one of only five languages that do not have nasal sounds used in letters such as “m” and “n”. Their history reveals them to be master craftsmen because of their ability to create what they needed from the land they were given. They wove baskets, some were so tight that they would boil water and cook in them. Once they determined how to craft their own weapons they became wailers.

Although the author of the Twilight series focuses on the Quileute Tribe she varies the story to portray them as shape shifters, they are wolves but more advance as werewolves because those are enemies of vampires. The right of passage for a young man in the Quileute tribe is a quest to reveal their manhood; Stephenie Meyer takes this part of their heritage and uses it for the transformation into a werewolf for screen purposes only. There are two people in the film that are of the Quileute Tribe in origin, Jacob Black and Sam Uley, the Clearwater family is also from the Quileute Tribe.

There have been a few books written about the area and also about the Quileute Tribe in La Push, Washington. “Spirit Quest” was written in 1991 by Susan Sharpe and “Saving Cascadia” by John J. Nance in 2005. Susan’s story tells about a young person who spends part of his summer vacation on the reservation, he becomes friends with a Quileute boy who he accompanies on a vision quest. John J. Nance’s story is about the silence between the area of two tribes, not only their silence but the fact that no tremors have happened there setting up a story for a huge earthquake to happen in the near future. If you want to visit the Olympic National Park that surrounds La Push, Washington and experience the beautiful scenery for yourself then type La Push, Washington into your favorite search engine to get information on fishing tours and river guide services.