The Quileute People

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.