Quileute People

Quileute People

The Quileute ( /ˈkwɪliːuːt/), also known as the Quillayute ( /kwɨˈleɪ.uːt/), are a Native American people in western Washington state in the United States, currently numbering approximately 2000. The Quileute people settled onto the Quileute Indian Reservation after signing the Quinault Treaty 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 people on the reservation, which has a land area of 4.061 km² (1.5678 sq mi, or 1,003.4 acres).They have their own government inside the United States that consists of a tribal council with staggered terms. The current tribal council consists of: Carol Hatch (chair), Tony Foster (vice-chair), DeAnna Hobson (secretary), and Anna Rose Counsell (treasurer).

The Quileute language 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 Chimakum, were wiped out by Chief Seattle and the Suquamish people during the 1860s. The Quileute language is one of only 6 known languages lacking nasal sounds (i.e., m and 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 Quileute, along with the Makah, were once great whalers.