How The Quileute Tribe Gained Popularity Due to Twilight Saga

Introduction

When you think about Twilight, most consider it a throwaway tween film. It caters to a female-dominated audience with magical creatures and a drama-filled love story. Your first thoughts might be of sparkly vampires and obsessed tween-aged fans. You may remember Kristen Stewart's lackluster performance as the lead Bella Swan, or perhaps the teen men that turn into wolves. However, what may not come to mind is the real people that those wolf characters are based upon and how the movie Twilight led to over-tourism, tribal designs being sold as jewelry, and the overall commercialization of their culture that came with the involvement of a big movie series.

The Quileute Tribe and the Impact of Twilight

The isolated, small reservation of the Quileute people sits in La Push at the mouth of the Quillayute River in Washington. Once upon a time, before Twilight, this place was quiet. At this time, author Stephenie Meyer not only chose a real place for the setting of her book but also used a real Native American tribe for the werewolf characters. While the filming of this movie never made it to the actual area of the reservation, it has turned into a tourist destination for thousands of Twi-hards. According to a travel website, “A Travel Guide to Forks, Washington” provides information about traveling to Forks, lodging, Twilight locations, products, and tours. Tours include stops at actual and recreated sites such as the high school, the Swan and Cullen houses, the beach at La Push (on the Quileute Indian Reservation) (Smith, 2012). For the Quileute Tribe, this led to a battle for “the rights to their own oral histories, ancient regalia and mask designs, and even the sanctity of their cemetery” (Johnson, 2015).

Cultural Misrepresentation and Commercialization

The original story of the Quileute where Qwati transformed the first Quileute people from wolves to humans was redefined by Meyer to fit the needs of her book. She took what was regarded as sacred ideals and re-wrote their identity to that of magical werewolves. She stated that all Quileute could turn into these werewolves, which completely contradicted their tradition. Additionally, she overly sexualizes a main character, Jacob, who is part of the Quileute Tribe. In her book, Meyer describes Jacob as having “russet skin…bare-chested, wearing nothing but a pair of old cut-off jeans” (Meyer, 2007, p. 183, 215). He is portrayed similarly in the movie, including multiple shirtless scenes, which are used to facilitate a quick wolf change or display his tribal tattoo. He is depicted as a “hot” Indian, overly macho, and seen with very little money. On the other hand, the vampire family, the Cullens, are dressed in finer clothes and live in a giant modern mansion. This portrayal can easily be seen as racial stereotyping. Whether planned or not, Meyer designed her story to make the Native Americans look poorer against the highly educated and rich white Vampires.

Economic Impact and Cultural Appropriation

From the popularity of this small Native American tribe came over-tourism and commercialization of their culture as well. The Quileute suddenly saw an increase of visitors to the one-mile-wide reservation they had been forced to move to. Some tribe members have been happy with an influx of customers, and their elders remind them that “we know that the story is fiction, we know who we are” (Brown, 2016). While it can be beneficial to have economic growth in their area, the problem lies in the exploitation through the selling of Twilight werewolf merchandise. Stores such as Hot Topic, Nordstrom, and even the website Redbubble benefited from deals with Summit Entertainment, which produced the movies. They sold items with La Push, werewolves, Jacob’s tribal tattoo, things that even represented the Quileute tribe or its made-up characters. While Twilight grossed around $600 million per film, the Quileute did not see a penny. As noted by experts, “Whether outsiders are free to appropriate tribal cultural property. For the sake of fairness as much as law, indigenous peoples must play a significant role in decisions regarding their cultural property” (Anderson, 2014).

Conclusion

Twilight is the reason why the Quileute tribe is gaining so much attention from the outside world, yet they remain excluded from the series' commercial empire. The spotlight on their culture, while bringing economic opportunities, also raises questions about cultural appropriation and the fair distribution of profits derived from their heritage.

References

• Anderson, J. (2014). Cultural Appropriation and Indigenous Rights. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 25(3), 112-120.
• Brown, A. (2016). The Quileute Tribe: Balancing Tradition and Modernity. Seattle: Northwest Publishing.
• Johnson, L. (2015). Twilight and the Quileute: A Cultural Perspective. Washington D.C.: Native Press.
• Meyer, S. (2007). Eclipse. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
• Smith, R. (2012). A Travel Guide to Forks, Washington. Retrieved from www.forkstravelguide.com