Who are the Quileutes?
The Quileutes are a Native American tribe located in La Push, Washington, which has been the homeland of their people for thousands of years according to the tribe’s website (“History”).
Traditional Life
According to their website, the Quileute people lived off of the sea, primarily fishing and hunting sea life. They relied on the ocean for most of their needs with led to the development of maritime skills and technology for sea travel. For instance, they built canoes for ocean travel that were over fifty feet long. Their traditional government was kinship-based, meaning that chiefs were selected based on bloodlines. Their canoes, which they built from the surrounding red cedar trees, were significant to their way of life. Rituals and supernatural elements were a significant aspect of their culture. For instance, young people went on “solitary spirit quests” in search of their “taxilit,” which is a Quileute word that means “personal guardian power”. Dancing, singing, gambling, and competitive games were common activities among members of the tribe. Storytelling was also an important aspect of traditional tribal life. Stories were utilized to share historical knowledge, teach lessons and otherwise enrich the lives of the Quileute people (“Raven Tales”).
For more information on traditional life and culture, visit the sections on “History” and “Raven Tales” provided by the Quileute tribe.
Origin
Quileute elder Chris Morganroth shared the Quileute origin story at the Native Storytelling Festival in 2012. According to Morganroth’s speech, he learned the Quileute language from his grandmother who only spoke in their traditional tongue. His grandmother regularly told him stories, which is the traditional way that Quileute people are taught. At the Quileute school, they provide cultural education, such as basket weaving, singing, drumming, traditional food, and medicines. He dedicates his time teaching children the Quileute language and other aspects of traditional culture as he is fluent in the traditional language and passionate about cultural revitalization and preservation.
“When anybody loses their language, they lose their identity”
-Chris Morganroth
Before sharing the creation story of the Quileutes, Morganroth clears up the misinformation regarding the Quileute’s origin as it is depicted by the popular Twilight Saga. He explains: “The vampire and the werewolf were never a part of my culture”. According to Morganroth, the Quileute people were changed from wolves into people by “The Changer,” a transformer put on the Earth by The Creator in order to “make life on Earth more pleasant for every living thing”. In this explanation of the tribe’s origin, “The Changer” came upon the Quileute land where there were no people. He saw two timber wolves, one male and one female, and turned them into the Quileute people. He ensured that there was an abundance of food and resources so that they could thrive, before continuing on his journey.
The Impact of Twilight
During Chris Morganroth’s speech, he states that Stephanie Meyer, the author of the Twilight Saga, did not ask the tribe’s permission to use their creation story in her fictional series about vampires and the Quileute shape-shifting werewolves.
While the Twilight Saga spread an untrue and fabricated version of the Quileute origin story without permission, the series did put a spotlight on the tribe which aided their fifty-year fight with the U.S. government to regain lost land, according to a PBS interview with tribal member Anne Penne-Charles (‘Twilight’ Stardom-Quileute Tribe Regain Land”).
Current Issues
A news story by PBS titled “Twilight’s Quileute Tribe Fights to Regain Precious Land” provides a series of interviews with Quileute members and information regarding tribal concerns. The news story was published in 2012 after the tribe has succeeded in its long struggle to regain part of the land forfeited in an 1855 treaty in exchange for fishing rights, which was necessary for the tribe’s livelihood. Consequently, the land they kept was a fraction of the size of their original territory and located in an area that experiences frequent flooding and erosion, putting the tribe at risk and reducing their quality of life. At the time of the interview, Congress just passed a bill that returned almost 800 acres of the tribes land, which will allow them to eventually move to higher ground.
References:
CJ Research: The Quileute Tribe of NA 
I never realized that the twilight sagas used a real tribe. I found it interesting that the tribe its self never believed in were wolves and vampires. I do find it problematic that Stephanie Meyers used them with out their consent. But I’m glad it shined a light on their current issues of lost land.
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Woohoo! A Native American tribe from Washington! I wish I went to a school that taught me basket weaving and drumming. That is very interesting that Twilight used the Quileute origin story.
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