I was lucky to be invited for the weekend out to the Quileute Indian Reservation in order to do my first observation. Native American history is one of my favorites to learn about, so I was hoping my 3 1/2 hour drive up would go by quickly because I was anxious to get started.
A few months ago, I meet Anna, a teacher at the Quileute tribal school, through a mutual friend while we were up for a overnight camping trip on Quileute beach. After I told her about my observation assignment, she was more then happy to get together in order for me to get an inside scoop of what life is and was like on the reservation.
Anna was born and raised on the reservation. As were her parents, grandparents and great-grand parents. She started with the legend of her tribe. The first thing she told me was that her people are believed to have been changed from wolves by a wandering Transformer. “Yes, Twilight did get some facts right in the book,” which made her laugh. Anna proceed to tell me about her ancestors impressive canoe designs and how they were regarded to be the best whalers/ fishers/ sealers of the coast. “Though we do not partake in those drastic fishing practices now, I remember as a girl, every spring I would go with my family to catch our first salmon of the year. Traditionally removing the meat but then return the head and bones to the river so the fish can come back plentiful each year. This is a tradition that I still do with my husband and daughter, but perhaps it’s not working as well since there is a salmon shortage happening at the moment.” As we walked through the reservation, Anna was point out different areas which each had a back story/ memory that she could recount. I decided that now might be a good time to ask a few questions that I had thought of from my last blog post.
“Anna, regards to the traditions that you grew up with, and are passing to your children, such as the first spring salmon and the shortage happening, how has the land changed since you were younger? or your parents?” We were sitting on the beach and her eyes never left the ocean when she answered. “Well, we didn’t get so much debris washing up on shore when I was younger, especially my parents like we do now which is pretty disappointing. A lot more tourist now but hey, any money coming into the reservation is always a good thing.” Which made us both laugh. She continued, ” we as a tribe make sure to instill our legends and stories with those who want to learn and our children. The earth is different now and not as abundant as it once was, but we still try to honor and keep her protected when we can.” I continue with asking about living on the reservation and how life here can be misconstrued to others? “Great question! We do not get handouts, contrary to popular belief. And I think that is why many people look down on reservations and our people. Did you notice our school? Our market, or majority of our housing? I figured we would have better structures or some type of maintenance if we got extra money from the government. We are a tribe the govern ourselves. Though, we did get a huge victory for our tribe thanks to Obama. After 50 years, we are finally getting 772 acres of our land back. I know that will not go over well with some who continue to think that we get hand outs because if we did, I don’t think it would have taken 50 years for it to be done. Do you?” No Anna, not at all.
life_Anthropology 