Quileute Tribe celebrates the re-discovery of their petroglyph rock carving. A fisherman stumbled upon a rock carving that appears to show the legendary battle in Quileute mythology: “Bad Monster - The Red Lizard according to Quileute Tribal Legend, made its home near the narrowest point of land between the Calawah and Sol Duc Rivers and stopped people using it as a shortcut from one to the other. K’wati, a figure of good who was known as the “Transformer” and turned the Quileutes from Wolves into People, eventually killing the Red Lizard, who had a much poorer reputation. “He was a very bad monster, his urine, actually, if you stepped on it, it would kill you,” Quileute Tribal Councilman Justin “Rio” Jaime told those gathered at the ceremony. Chas Woodruff, chairman of the Quileute Nation’s Tribal Council, describes the find for his Tribe as “the most important for us, at least in this modern day.” When tribal and state officials, including Woodruff and Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark gathered Wednesday for a Ceremony to celebrate the rock’s re-discovery. The two talked about what they could see on the rock’s surface. Stilson pointed out the head of what is believed to be K’wati, a transformative figure in Quileute mythology. With his finger, Stilson traced K’wati’s head, beak and distinctive comb, and then K’wati’s tongue, which leads to another figure on the rock, believed to be the Red Lizard. The tongue is a power symbol and weapon for Northwest tribes, Stilson explained. Jackson, who has done some carving himself, agreed. “Anything that comes out of the mouth is an offensive design — that animal is showing his power,” Jackson said. State archaeologist, Stilson helped authenticate the rock. Whoever carved it used a stone, which means a “pre-contact” artifact, one made before Europeans came. Stilson guessed its date to be around or before the mid-1700s. It was moved to the tribal headquarters in La Push. State archaeologists authenticated the carving and think it may date to around or before the mid-1700s. Below information via hohtribe-nsn.org/?page_id=173) The Hoh River (chalak’At’sit, meaning “The Southern River”) The neighboring tribe, the Hoh Tribe has its Oral Traditions of the K’wati The river itself is focal in Hoh tribal identity and folk-story. The Hoh people were created along the River and their Mythic narratives are called kixI’ recall the origin of Those-Who-Live-on-the-Hoh. According to these accounts, the ancestors of the tribe were “created by transformation” at the Time of Beginnings by K’wati the shape-shifting “Changers” who went around the world making things as they are today. When K’wati got to the Hoh River, K’wati discovered that the inhabitants of the area were upside down people, who walked on their hands and handled their smelt dipnets clumsily with their feet. They werent very good at it, so they were famished and skinny. K’wati set them right side up and showed them how to operate their nets with their hands. For that reason, Hoh elders still sometimes refer to themselves as p’ip’isodat’sili, which means “Upside down people”. After he had set the Hoh upright, then, the Transformer told the Ancestors, You shall use your feet to walk… Go and fish smelt. You shall catch much fish when you fish smelt.” Ever since then there is much smelt at Hoh. So important is the river in tribal life ways that there is also, not surprisingly, a mythic narrative for the origin of the river. The Hoh River and the headlands along the beaches (Toleak Point and Hoh Head) were created by K’wati, as well. According to the story, K’wati killed the chief of the wolves, and then tried to escape from the other wolves, who were bent on revenge. The wily Transformer had grabbed his carved comb and a container of oil when he fled from his house, even though the wolves were in hot pursuit. According to the story, Then K’wati ran down the beach. Then the wolves followed K’wati intending to kill him. As soon as the wolves were about to overtake K’wati, he used what had been hanging in the house [i.e. the comb] and struck the ground with it on the beach. No sooner had K’wati finished striking the ground on the beach with his comb and there appeared a cliff. Of course, the wolves had to swim around the cliff. Then the wolves would be left far behind. Once more the wolves were about to overtake K’wati and he spilled on the ground what he was carrying [i.e. the oil], there appeared a river. Of course the wolves had to swim across the water. Then K’wati kept on going and as soon as they would be about to overtake him, he would … make cliffs and rivers. So, he went around the country and K’wati was never overtaken by the pursuing wolves. Ever since that time there are cliffs and rivers. (Note: The Twilight saga, which is a fiction based of these tribal land areas which included wolf / werewolves shape shifters.)
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 20:58:25 +0000