Wikipedia
The Quileute , also known as the Quillayute , 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).
The federally recognized Quileute tribe has its own government, which consists of an elected tribal council with staggered 3-year terms. The current tribal council consists of: Tony Foster (chairman), Charles Woodruff (vice-chair), Naomi Jacobson (secretary/ treasurer), Crystal Lyons (treasurer), and Catherine Salazar (member at large).
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 aboriginal 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 natives, in pre-colonial 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. The Quileute, along with the Makah, were once also whalers.
The Quileute are a Native American people of western Washington state. Quileute may also refer to:
- Quileute language, their language
- Quileute Tribal School, a Native American school in La Push, Washington
- Quillayute River, a river on the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington state
- USS Quileute (YTB-540), later YTM-540, a United States Navy tug placed in service in 1945 and sold in 1974