Солтүстік-Батыс АҚШ-ның Quileute тайпасы

Federally recognized Native American tribe in the northwestern United States

The Quileute ('/k//w//ɪ//l//i://uː//t/) are a Native American people in western Washington state in the United States, currently numbering approximately 2,000. They are a federally recognized tribe: the Quileute Tribe of the Quileute Reservation. The Quileute people were forced onto the Quileute Indian Reservation after signing the Quinault Treaty in 1855. Their reservation is located near the southwest corner of Clallam County, Washington, at the mouth of the Quillayute River on the Pacific coast. They are part of the Coast Salish people (Pacific Northwest Coast) and the Quinault people (Washington State). The reservation's main population center is the community of La Push, Washington. The 2000 census reported an official resident population of 371 people on the reservation, which has a land area of 4.061 km² (1.5678 sq mi, or 1,003.4 acres). The Quileute language belongs to the Chimakuan family of languages among Northwest Coast indigenous peoples. The Quileute language is an isolate, as the only related indigenous people to the Quileute, the Chimakum, were destroyed by Chief Seattle and the Suquamish people during the 1860s. The Quileute language is one of only six known languages lacking nasal sounds (i. e., m and n). Like many Northwest Coast nations, in precontact times the Quileute relied on fishing from local rivers and the Pacific Ocean for food. They built plank houses (longhouses) to protect themselves from the harsh, wet winters west of the Cascade Mountains.

Historically the Quileute were talented builders and craftsmen. Like many other tribes in the region, they were boat and canoe makers. They could make canoes for whaling, which could hold tons of cargo and many men. They had cedar canoes ranging in size from small boats that could hold two people to giant vessels up to long and capable of holding up to 6,000 pounds. The modern clipper ship's hull uses a design much like the canoes used by the Quileutes. The Quileutes used the resources from the land to make tools and other items. In the region, almost everything was made out of wood. Necessities like utensils, clothing, weapons, and paints were made from the available natural resources. In terms of arts and crafts, the Quileute Tribe is best known for their woven baskets and dog hair blankets. The tribe would raise specially bred, woolly dogs for their hair, which they would spin and weave into blankets. They would also weave incredibly fine baskets that were so tightly woven that they could hold water. They could boil water in some of them. Using cedar bark, they made waterproof skirts and hats to shield their bodies against the heavy rainfall in the region.

The Quileute have extensive knowledge of the medicinal qualities of their homelands' flora. They use velvetleaf huckleberries, Vaccinium myrtilloides, by eating the uncooked berries, stewing the berries to make a sauce, and canning the berries and using them as food.

The Quileute's belief system holds that every person had an individual guardian. They would pray to the guardian, along with the sun and Tsikáti (the universe). Much of their original religion was lost after the disruption of European encounter, diseases, losses and colonization. James Island, an island visible from First Beach, has played a role in all aspects of Quileute beliefs and culture. Originally called A Ka Lat ("Top of the Rock"), it was used as a fortress to keep opposing tribes out and served as a burial ground for chiefs. As told much in their folklore, the Quileute descended from wolves. Quileute myths proclaim that the two sided mythical character known as Dokibatt and K’wa’iti was responsible for creating the first human of the Quileute tribe by transforming a wolf. In the beginning there were five tribal societies that represented the elk hunter, the whale hunter, the fisherman, the weather predictor, and the medicine man. The medicine man honored the creator with the wolf dance. Quileute folklore is still very much alive in the area of the Quileute Nation near La Push.

The Quileute tribe speaks a language called Quileute or Quillayute, which is part of the Chimakuan family of languages. The Chimakum, who also spoke a Chimakuan language (called Chemakum, Chimakum, or Chimacum,) were the only other group of people to speak a language from this language family. In 1999, the last native speaker of the Quileute language died, meaning the language is considered extinct, although three or four users in their 50s retain some knowledge of vocabulary. Up until then, it was spoken only by tribal elders at La Push, and some of the Makah. Quileute is one of the 13 known languages that are recorded to have no nasal consonants. The tribe is now trying to prevent the loss of the language by teaching it in the Quileute Tribal School, using books written for the students by the tribal elders. The Quileute Nation Culture and Language Committee released a language and culture app in 2021 in an effort to preserve the language and culture of their people. Efforts to introduce Quileute phrases into everyday life was started in 2007 through the Quileute Revitalization Project, by providing tribe members with accessible information on basic vocabulary words and phrases. The Quileute Nation has continued this project through downloadable alphabet sheets and providing audiobooks read in Quileute.

The Quileute Tribal School serves K 12 tribal and non tribal students from La Push, Forks, and the Hoh Reservation. The school has an elected five member school board and a hired superintendent. In 2020 2021 131 students from 14 different tribal heritages were enrolled. The school is currently the focus of the organization 'Move to Higher Ground' which hopes to relocate the school outside of the current tsunami zone. Ground was broken on July 1, 2020, for a new campus. Classes are set to begin in the new campus in fall of 2022.

In Susan Sharpe's 1991 novel Spirit Quest, eleven year old Aaron Singer spends part of his summer vacation on the Quileute Indian Reservation in Washington. There he becomes friends with Robert, a Quileute boy. At the encouragement of his family, who no longer incorporate many of their traditions into daily life, Robert attends tribal school to learn the Quileute language and culture. At Aaron's urging, the boys go together on their version of a "spirit quest", where Aaron finds and saves a trapped eagle. Though he admires and respects Robert's culture, Aaron realizes that he can never be a part of it the way Robert is. Aaron's initially romantic view is replaced by deeper understanding. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series features Jacob Black and other werewolf characters, all fictional members of the Quileute tribe and residents of La Push. It has been heavily criticized for its negative depiction of native people and culture and the incorrect telling of the Quileute stories. The Quileute tribe received no compensation from Twilight, despite their name and culture being appropriated. The Burke Museum created a website to combat all the misconceptions and educate fans about the truth of the Quileute tribe. Historian Daniel Immerwahr posits that the Fremen in Frank Herbert's Dune are based on Herbert's interactions with Henry Martin, or Han daa sho, a fisherman who lived on the Quileute reservation in La Push, Washington.