Quileute Legends | Folklore | Myths | Stories

Quileute (pronounced Quill-yoot) legends are stories passed down from the Quileute tribe of American Indian. The Quileute myths are complete with characters that conjure up spectral images to the one who reads or hears these stories. Of the characters belonging to the Quileute myths, there is Q’waiti, Raven, Thunderbird, and Dask’ija.

In the Twilight book series, written by Stephenie Meyer, she writes of a Quileute myth of The Cold Ones. The Cold Ones are mythical vampires made up by the author. The Cold Ones are not actually part of Quileute Legends. The author of Twilight incorporates all true Quileute legends in her story, except for the part she made up about the vampires, called The Cold Ones.

As told in Quileute folklore, the Quileute Indians descended from wolves. Quileute legends suggest that a mythical being known to have 3 interchangeable titles as The Trickster, The Transformer, and The Changer. 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. This creation story takes on a life of its own. In the beginning there were 6 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.

In the Twilight book series: Breaking Dawn, Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse the author is true to Quileute folklore, with the exception to the inclusion of the vampires called The Cold Ones. Since the writing of the book, the movie Twilight came out featuring vampires known as The Cold Ones. The Twilight books are based on a dream that the author had about young couple. The boy was a vampire and the girl was just a regular girl. The girl’s name is Bella. She leaves her old life with her mom and stepdad, and goes to live with her father. At school she meets some really good looking vampire boys.
The books bring the relationship between The Cold Ones and Bella alive. In the Twilight books the story of The Cold Ones are told as one of the Quileute legends.

Quileute folklore is still very much alive in the area of the Quileute Nation near La Push near the Pacific coast of Washington. Today this area is still very rich in history. In the past the Quileute people fished and hunted salmon, seals, and whales. During the summer and fall months you can go to the Quileute Nation and fish the rivers and ocean for salmon, halibut and tuna. When you visit La Push you will see that the Quileute legends are still a large part of the Quileute Nation.

Today the Quileute Nation is inhabited by many of the very decedents of the original tribe. The Quileute folklore is kept alive with stories such as those about the birth of their tribe through the transforming of a wolf into the first member. If you want to read a good story about The Cold Ones, read the Twilight series. If you want to meet the descendents of a people rich in Quileute folklore, visit the Quileute Nation near La Push, Washington.

Perhaps not many people are familiar about Quileute Indian tribe until wide exposure was conveyed through the internationally acclaimed movie saga “Twilight.” The movie staged the Quileute folklore of incredible lupine and vampire story that the latter supposed to typify Quileute myths of the “Cold Ones.” Twilight is a fascinating movie production based on Stephenie Meyer’s vampire romance book series “Twilight.” But the whole motion picture was not accorded to the Quileute legends and the vampires are mere concoction in the author’s narratives. However, they concur that there is truth about the tribe being descended from wolves in Quileute legends.

Whether the book is a far cry from what the Quileute believe, the movie has paved the way for new interest. Many people around the globe become keen in learning more about the Quileute legends, myths, culture and traditions. Like many other in the old world, there is no dearth of interesting, weird and wonderful stories that Quileute early ancestors have entrusted through its generations. More so those beliefs and narratives are still being preserved to this day and age, perhaps as rich and fascinating as how it was told in the beginning.

Quileute people thrived on the coastal line of the north Pacific. They were whalers and adroit seal hunters. They virtually lived on the abundance of the rivers and seas and the fruits and vegetation of the land. They are known particularly for their language characterized by usage of very long and complicated words. Much to Quileute attribute is their possessive nature claiming rights and ownership for almost anything under the sun and anything they lay their hands and feet on. Such exclusive rights were asserted from songs to dances to slave ownerships.

Quileute like other Indian tribes held traditional celebration called ‘Potlatch’ wherein they held gift-giving ceremonies. Being a part of potlatch is ironic to their possessive attributes and differ from any other Indian tribes who believe that all earthly abundance are to be shared amongst the communities. In these festivities, the native Indians would toss away their worldly possessions into the burning fire. This indicates that whoever participated in these ceremonies are the affluent and the high ranking amongst the tribe.

Quileute are highly spiritual tribe who believe strongly in supernatural powers. Typical of the ancient tribes, the Quileute consulted their high priest or shaman who they believe has mystical powers and magic. They deemed that various rituals perform by their high priest who in turn consulted mythical icons could help them with their ardent wishes as well as assist them with solutions to their problems. Most of Quileute mythical figures also surpass human strength and mostly descended as animals or birds and took human form. Some of the Quileute mythical figures are the Raven or Bayaq who is a trickster, Thunderbird or Tistilal who has thunder wings and known to transport a whale with its claws and many other fascinating Quileute old tale figures.

All these stories were relayed by word of mouth in whimsical and complex Quileute tongue that is now becoming an extinct language. There could be much more of Quileute folklores and olden stories that might have been lost and forgotten through the passage of time. But their remaining folktales and traditional stories as we know today are rich and distinctive of their culture that will always be fascinating through generations to come.

Although these legends have existed for years, their usage in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer has made them popular once more. Like many other Native systems of mythology, those of the Quileute are very fauna-oriented, with lots of animal-like beings in their folklore. The Wolves, for instance, are said to be the ancestors of the Quileute tribe. The Raven, another important figure in Quileute mythology, is said to be the Trickster of the Quileute legends, with many stories centering around him. According to these legends, when these beings were alive, they were all human, with the characteristics of the animals that descended from them. The ways that certain things happened, like why the Raven has curled, black feet, or how the Quileute came to be descended from wolves, all have their own legends. These aren’t the only major figures in Quileute mythology either. Q’wati the Transformer, Thunderbird, and Dask’iya the Basket Ogress all have legends dedicated to them also.

Q’wati the Transformer is a sort of God for the Quileute tribe, although they only acknowledge him as a sort of protector and teacher. He is also credited with creating the Quileute tribe, by changing two wolves that he found into people. The Deer and the Beaver also have places in the Quileute creation myth. They were said to have been sharpening their knives in order to kill Q’wati, and when he discovered their plans, he stuck their weapons into their tails and ears, thus giving the Deer and Beaver their antlers and tails, respectively. Besides creating the Quileute, he was said to have created the Queet people, the Hoh people, the Makah people, and the Neah people.

The Raven, the Quileute trickster, is a beloved figure in Quileute legends, but most stories center on his learning from mistakes made during the run of the legends. He was said to be greedy, lazy, arrogant, deceitful, and rude, all flaws which were taught against to children using his mistakes made in the legends. One of his stories, Raven and the Mole, is one in which he exhibits greed and deceitfulness, by trying to trick his wife so that he could eat all of the food given to them by the Moles. In another tale, Raven and the Skatefish, which is another name for the stingray, Raven shows his arrogance by bragging that he could easily hit the skatefish. Of course, he missed due to the Skatefish only showing the thinnest part of his body. These tales might seem to give one a less than savory image of Raven’s personality, but these stories taught children essential behaviors, and which behaviors weren’t okay.

The Thunderbird does not hold the same status as Q’wati in Quileute legends, but he is recognized as another important figure. In the tale Thunderbird and the Whale, during a time when the Quileute were dying from starvation, the Thunderbird came to their rescue. The tribe wasn’t able to fish due to horrible weather, and had already eaten the plants and all on their land, so the chief went to the Great Spirit and spoke with him for what it seems was one hundred years. The Spirit did not speak to the tribe, but it seemed that the Thunderbird was a manifestation of both the prayers of the chief and tribe, and the will of the Great Spirit. So suddenly a giant bird appeared, with a live whale in its claws. The Thunderbird, a name given to the bird by the Quileute tribe, put the whale on the ground carefully, and returned to wherever it had come from. This legend is the reason why the Quileute people respect the Thunderbird so much. Every major figure in Quileute mythology has either protected, saved, or taught the Quileutes; this is common with most systems of mythology, but the figures of Quileute tales are especially admirable.