Quileute Legends | Twilight | New Moon

The Quileutes being the Quileute tribe is one of the Northwestern Native American tribes of northerly United States. They are known for their language, which does not utilize any “m” or “n” sounds and characteristic very long words that serve as finish sentences unto themselves. Tribal elders and a few others continue to use the language in modern day Northwestern.

Tribes were dissimilar from other Native American tribes in practicing ownership of possessions and rights to things such as songs, dancing (sort of a Native American patent) and sport fishing rights.  The Quileutes as well owned slaves.

One aspect of this Northwestern Native American culture was the tradition of the potlatch. The Potlatch ceremonial occasion attempts to both redistribute wealth and for mighty tribe leaders to exhibit their wealth to others. Part of this show of wealth involved the individual holding the potlatch to demolish some of his personal property. This could either be very good or very bad news for slaves owned by the individual throwing the potlatch. At times slaves would be set free as part of the ceremony at other times, they were sacrificed. Often the show of wealth would simply involve a proprietor throwing valuable target into a fire to show that he had so much that he didn’t need them. The more valuable the object, the more a show of major power the act was. Following the destruction of property, the individual throwing the potlatch would then proceed to distribute present among his guests. With each gift, the bestower would traditionally verbally diss and put down the person receiving the present.

The person receiving the gift would and then be anticipate to give a present back twice or more in value to the giver at the next potlatch. Sometimes, the gift received (hopefully not a slave in this instance) was demolish by the recipient to exhibit their own wealth and/or insult the gift-giver back in return. The ceremonies also involved dancing and feasting. Potlatches are mistakenly linked to the tradition of potluck. While similar in sound and involving food, potlucks stem from European tradition and its origins lie in a dissimilar purpose.

Potatches celebrated waste as a show of wealth and power; potlucks were created to eradicate the waste of food in communities that couldn’t afford to waste it. Potlatch ceremonies were eventually prohibited as part of colonist undertakes to “civilize” Native Americans and change over them to Christian religion. Potlatches have since re-emerged into practice among sure tribes as to signify of preserving their heritage. Native American legend has it that the Quileutes are descended from wolves. According to Quileute mythology, K’wa’iti the, shape-shifting deceiver, made the first Quileute out of a wolf he stumbled upon during his travels.

edward cullen

Author Stephenie Meyer would later make use of the actual Quileute legends while make her Twilight Saga. In the Twilight series of novels, the character of Jacob Black is a Quileute who resides in La Push. It is at First Beach in La Push that Jacob comes crosswise his childhood friend Bella Swan, and recount her a story about the Cullen family (a coven of vampires residing in Forks) In the second book, New Moon, Jacob notice that he, himself, is a werewolf.  He along with several of his Quileute ‘brothers’ is pledged to protect La Push from their pledged enemies, the ‘Cold Ones’.

Many years ago, the Quileutes forged a pact with the vampires which prohibited the Cullens from trespassing on Quileutes lands, and allowed the two groups to live in the like vicinity in relative peacefulness. This pact hinged on the requirement that the Cullens never feed on human blood. It is also in fresh Moon that Bella nearly dies while cliff-jumping in La Push. Jacob hears her screams and saves her from drowning.