I know a lot of you are Twilight fans. Have you seen the new movie yet? I haven’t made it to the theater yet to watch it but plan on it. I thought instead of writing a lengthy blog post this time, I’d share a fanfic that I found – Osa Bella. Check it out and let me know what you think. I believe it’s just what you guys need.
Quileute refers to a traditional Indian tribe. Stephenie Meyer mentions this tribe in her book and movie series, the Twilight saga. In Meyer’s novel, Jacob, Bella’s friend, is Indian and is related to the Quileute tribe. There are many myths, legends and stories associated with this tribe. The most well-known myth is the creation myth.
The creation myth is about the origin of the tribes. This myth involves a hero named Q’wati. In English, he is commonly known as the Transformer. The Q’wati was almost like a teacher. He told the people how they should be and taught them how to build houses and how to survive. Without the Q’wati’s words, the tribes wouldn’t have survived or prospered. The Q’wati did not only influence the creation of people, he influenced the creation of animals as well.
One day, he came upon Beaver sharpening his knife and asked him what he was sharpening the knife for. Beaver told him that he was planning on killing Q’wati. In response, the Q’wati stuck the knife Beaver was sharpening into his tail and told Beaver that he will always have the knife stuck in his tail, could only slap the water with his tail and had to dive whenever anyone came near.
Later, the Q’wati came across Deer. Deer also admits that he is planning on killing Q’wati. So, the Q’wati takes the shell Deer is sharpening and plunges it into the ears of Deer. He tells Deer that from now on, he will be afraid of people, run away from them, then stop and look back.
Next, the Q’wati comes to Q’wayi’t’soxk’a river, but finds no people. He spits on his hand and rubs them together, removing the dead skin. As the dead skin falls into the water, people appear. He tells the people that the name of the tribe is Q’wayi’t’sox and that they should live there.
Soon after, the Q’wati comes across the Hob people. These people walked on their hands, instead of their feet. The Q’wati goes up to them and tells them that they will now walk on their feet and will catch lots of smelt in the water.
The Q’wati reaches the Quileute land. He doesn’t see any people, but he sees two wolves. The Q’wati transforms the wolves into people. He tells the people that they shall be brave and strong and only have one wife, unless they are a chief. A chief will be the only member of the tribe that is allowed to have four or eight wives.
Continuing his journey, he soon comes across the Ozette people, but he only saw two dogs. He transforms the dogs into people and tells them to search around the rocks to find sea-food.
Lastly, he finds the Neah people. These people did not know how to fish, so they were on the verge of dying. The Q’wati did not want to see them die, so he showed the people how to fish and then told them there would be a lot of fish in the Neah bay.
The Quileute are indigenous North Americans who inhabit the state of Washington in the United States of America. The population of the tribe is quite less – approximately around seven hundred to eight hundred. The Quileute people inhabited the Indian Reservation area which was given to them after having successfully negotiated the Quinault Theory in 1855. The 2000 Census reported that only about 400 people inhabited the reservation and the total land enclosed by the reservation was merely about 1000 acres. The tribe has its own government with its own terms and regulations. The Quileute relied on inland fishing and fishing from the Pacific Ocean for food and they built the longhouses to protect themselves from the might and rage of the winter season. The tribes were also great whalers and they depended on fish for their livelihood. The people of the tribe also made boats, canoes, cargo boats and were skilled sailors like the Vikings. They also wove beautiful baskets and Mother Nature satisfied most of their needs. They were skilled in making waterproof hats and skirts to guard themselves during a rain. They are renowned for making dog hair blanket which is made out of dog’s fur.
The main population center of the Quileute tribes is the community of La Push. La Push is a community in west-Washington in USA. It boasts of really good natural beauty and is a tourist spot. The word La Push in an infusion means ‘the mouth’. The name describes the community’s location at the mouth of the river. Today, due to the increasing number of tourists, La Push has many resorts facing the oceans, Seafood Company and other marine related businesses. The traditional skills and craft of the tribe is being taught at schools at a young age. The Quileute days are celebrated in La Push every year from July 17 to July 19. The extravaganza includes sports events, dancing, singing, traditional salmon bake, food concessions and a lot of interesting things.
The Quileute people were very religious and pious. According to Quileute beliefs, on attaining puberty, the boys would go out on a quest to find supernatural powers and return as a dignified man. They also believed that these powers were not eternal; the power would wear off at some point of time. To ensure everyone’s well being and for a good season, a salmon ceremony was performed. The people believed that each person in their tribe had his/her own guardian. The guardian was worshipped along with the other Gods like Sun and the Universe. After colonization of America by Europeans, the religion was long lost and forgotten. According to the Quileute folklore, the Quileute descended from wolves. It proclaims that mythical characters called Dokibatt and K’wa’iti was responsible for creating the first ever Quileute tribe whose name was Alpha, by transforming a wolf. In ancient times, there were six communities that represented the elk hunter, the fisherman, the whale hunter, the medicine man, the weather predictor. The creator was honored by the medical dance with the wolf dance. The Quileute tribe features in many books like Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, Susan Sharp’s Spirit Quest, John Nance’s Saving Cascadia.
The tribe is well renowned for their unique language. Their language is known as the Quillayute which is a part of the Chimakoan family of languages. The Chimakoan tribe was the only other tribe who spoke a language from the same language family. The Chemcaum language of the Chimakoan tribe was long lost when the tribe was wiped off by Chief Seattle and other tribes. The Quillayute language is spoken by a few today and is on the brink of dying out. The words in the language are quite long and the language does not have any nasal sound – m or n. Quileute tribes needed to be taken care of and their rich culture and traditions must be preserved.
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.
Quileute Legend, Myths, and Folklore