Quileute (tribe)

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The Quileute is a Native American people in western Washington state in the United States, currently numbering approximately 750. The Quileute people settled onto the Quileute Indian Reservation after signing the Treaty of Point Elliott with the former Washington Territory in 1855. It is located near the southwest corner of Clallam County, Washington at the mouth of the Quillayute River on the Pacific coast. The reservation's main population center is the community of La Push, Washington. The 2000 census reported an official resident population of 371 persons on the reservation, which has a land area of 4.061 km² (1.5678 sq mi, or 1,003.4 acres).

The Quileute tribe linguistically belongs to the Chimakuan family of languages among Northwest Coast indigenous peoples. The Quileute language is one of a kind, as the only related aboriginal people to the Quileute, the Chemakum, were wiped out by Chief Seattle and the Suquamish people during the 1860s. The Quileute language is one of only five known languages to not have any nasal sounds (m, n).

Like many Northwest Coast natives, in pre-Colonial times the Quileute relied on fishing from local rivers and the Pacific Ocean for food and built plank houses (longhouses) to protect themselves from the harsh, wet winters west of the Cascade Mountains. The Quileutes, along with the Makah people, were once great whalers.

Phonology

Quileute has three vowels, , long and short, as well as æː which only occurs long. Stress is historically penultimate, though this has become somewhat obscured and is no longer predictable. It has the following consonants (t͡ɬ and ɡ are rare):

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Glottal
			central	lateral		plain	labialized	plain	labialized
Plosive	voiceless	p	t			k	kʷ	q	qʷ	ʔ
	voiced	b	d			(g)
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ			kʼ	kʼʷ	qʼ	qʼʷ
Affricate	voiceless		ʦ	(tɬ)	ʧ
	ejective		ʦʼ	tɬʼ	ʧ’
Fricative			s	ɬ	ʃ	x	xʷ	χ	χʷ	h
Sonorant				l	j		w

The Quileute Tribe in Popular Fiction

The tribe is featured prominently in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga, which currently consists of Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. In the saga, the Quileute tribe produces werewolves, the only enemy of vampires. Characters in the saga that are Quileute in origin include Jacob Black, Billy Black, Harry Clearwater, Leah Clearwater, Seth Clearwater, Quil Ateara, Embry Call, Sam Uley, Brady, Colin, Jared, and Paul.

See also

• Chemakum
• Chimakuan languages
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
• New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
• Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

References

• Quileute Reservation, Washington United States Census Bureau

External links

• Official Quileute Tribe page - Quileute Natural Resources
• Forks-Web - Quileute Tribe page
• University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – The Pacific Northwest Olympic Peninsula Community Museum A web-based museum showcasing aspects of the rich history and culture of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula communities. Features cultural exhibits, curriculum packets and a searchable archive of over 12,000 items that includes historical photographs, audio recordings, videos, maps, diaries, reports and other documents.

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Last updated on Wednesday February 27, 2008 at 23:13:23 PST (GMT -0800)
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