Introduction & Legend of Creation

The Quinault Indian Nation is a fairly small group located along the coast of Washington State, just southwest of the Olympic Mountains. Today, the reservation is a total of 189,921 acres and sustains a population of over 2,800 people, although the numbers have fluctuated drastically over the centuries (Quinault 250). Among them are the descendants of several distinct groups, the largest being the Quinault and Queets, and the smaller being the Quileute, Hoh, Cowlitz, Chehalis, and Chinook. In the past, their main source of sustenance were the salmon they caught in the Columbia and Quinault Rivers. They also hunted marine life, such as whales in the ocean, and small game in the forest. In the Quinault Indian Nation website, the writer talks about how “superb salmon runs, abundant sea mammals, wildlife, and forests provided substantial material and spiritual wealth to our ancestors” (Sampson 2003).

Like most Native American cultures, the Quinault have several legends and stories that describe the beginning of the earth, sea, and sky. One such story tells that creation occurred in three phases. In the first stage, the Great Life Giver, Wha-neh wha-neh, designed all the aspects of nature in the form of people. These included such things as clouds, mountains, rivers, oceans, and sky. Created in the next phase were the animals and birds who coexisted as equals. In the final phase, another spiritual being, Misp’ the Transformer, changed the animals, birds, and land features, and that is how they remain today. In the time before humans, supernatural creatures existed on the earth. The Great Spirit told them he wanted to bring human beings to the earth and called them “Quinault,” meaning “the People” (James 99).

In the Queets tribe of the Quinaults, another story is told. They say, “the Great Spirit waded across the river. Upon reaching the other side he stopped to rub his legs to restore circulation. He then threw the rolls of dirt, which came from his legs and they landed in the River. Out came a man and a woman to form the Qu-itz-qu tribe. The tribal name translates to ‘out of the dirt of the skin’” (James 100).

Below is a drawing that depicts the Queets’ creation story, drawn by Keith Hoofnagle (James 101)

James, Justine E, and Leilani A Chubby. Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula: Who We Are. Edited by Jacilee Wray, University of Oklahoma Press, 2002.

“Quinault.” A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest, by Robert H. Ruby et al., Third ed., vol. 173, University of Oklahoma Press, 2010, pp. 250–255. The Civilization of the American Indian.

Sampson, Lisa. “People of the Quinault.” Quinault Indian Nation, 2003, http://www.quinaultindiannation.com/index.htm.