Quileute Legends | Folklore | Myths | Stories

Do you remember the scene where Bella researched on the Quileute Legends in Twilight? There truly are Quileute Legends. And the information is available on the net. However, the Quileute Legends discussed in the movie are not quite what the legends are in the real life.

So first, are the “Cold Ones” from Twilight a real Quileute Legend? The answer is no. Stephanie Meyer herself stated that she made this legend up for the movie’s plot. But, other parts of her books were based on real Quileute Legends, such as the tribe descending from wolves who were changed into humans. In fact, the tribe’s name itself “Quileute”, came from their word for wolf, Kwoli.

Their mention in the movie Twilight arose curiosity about the legends once again. And, like most legends, the Quileute Myths are very fauna-oriented. For example, they refer to wolves as the origins of Man. The Raven is believed to be the trickster amongst the Quileute, with most of the stories revolving around him.

According to the Quileuete Legends, when these beings roamed the Earth, they were humans bearing the characteristics of the animals descending from them. And amongst the legends, there were four highly distinguished beings. They are Q’wati, the Transformer, Thunderbird, the Raven, and Dask’iya.

The Quileute Folklore presented Q’wati as a sort of God, or Creator, though in the tribe, he was their protector and mentor. It was said that he created the first men by changing two wolves into people, and was even credited with why deers have antlers and beavers have tails. Aside from these, he was also said to have created the Neah people, the Queet, and the Hoh people.

The Basket Ogress, Dask’iya, is a cannibal woman believed to capture children in her basket and carry them home to eat them. The legends about her are most often used to scare children from bad behavior. It would be safe to say that the modern stories about the bag lady originated from this particular Quileute folklore.

The Thunderbird as described by the Quileute, is a bird large enough to carry a whale in its claws. It was said that he rescued the Quileutes from starvation by bringing them the whale to feed on. As the legend goes, the Chief prayed to the Great Spirit for assistance, and they believe that the Thunderbird was the manifestation of this prayer. They regard the Thuderbird with respect as the it was their savior in the time they were starving.

The Raven, as mentioned is the trickster in the legends. But it was through his mistakes that he learned. As described, he was lazy, arrogant, deceitful, and generally behaves badly. In one legend, he deceived his wife so that he can eat all the food that was given to them. These tales gave way to the modern tales used to let children know what is right and wrong.

All in all, the Quileute Legends mostly refer to the beings who taught, protected, or saved them. But the Quileute Myths are most admirable due to the power felt in the tales.