Quinault
Historically, the Quinault were one of several tribes that lived on or near the Pacific coast in the state of Washington's Olympic Peninsula. These tribes engaged in an intertribal system of trade, marriage, feasting, and raiding, and spoke the Chinook jargon. The extinct Quinault language was in the Salishan family. Since their relocation to the Quinault Indian Reservation, the name Quinault is associated with all the Indians who live on the Reservation, regardless of their historical tribal affiliations. The contemporary Quinault have a common identity based on shared residency and the collective struggle for control over their natural resources. In 1975 the Quinault reorganized their government and ratified the Constitution of the Quinault Indian Nation. The Nation includes some of the descendents of the Quinault, Queets, Hoh, Quileute, Chehalis, Chinook, and the Cowlitz tribes.
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North America --Northwest Coast and California
United States
NR17
7
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612
Documents referred to in this section are included in the eHRAF collection and are referenced by author, date of publication, and eHRAF document number.
There are six documents in the Quinault file. One of two major works in the collection is Olson's monograph (Olson 1936, no. 1) based on his 1920s fieldwork. It is a classic ethnography in the Boasian style of Quinault culture. The other major work is published by the Quinault Indian Nation and is a history of the Quinault-European relations from early contact days up to the struggle with logging companies and state government to regain control of their land and protect their fisheries. In one of the earliest accounts of Quinault way of life, Willoughby (1886, no. 4) reports on several topics, including social organization, fishing practices, and religion. Farrand's (1902, no. 2) work is a collection of Quinault myths and legends. Barsh (1982, no. 5) provides an account of traditional and contemporary Quinault fishing practices, and com pares them to those of European-Americans.
This culture summary was written by Ian Skoggard, 1999-2000.