The Ozette Prairies of Olympic National Park - Natural Resources ...

the spiritual world of the prairies. Such a reconstruction of a past and not-clearly-attested aspect of culture
is an anthropologically daring undertaking. To the extent that it is successful, readers will be enabled
by narrow definitions and logical inference to visualize what traditional Quileute did in their prairies and
to understand why they did these things.
For ease of reference, this report includes an appendix that presents an incomplete set of Quileute ethnographic
texts, chronologically arranged. Quotes and notes in the body of the report primarily refer to
this appendixed material. The report is intended to provide a cultural overview rather than an exhaustive
ecological treatment of aboriginal prairie use. As such, it may serve as a starting point in considering
some broader issues.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAIRIES IN TRADITIONAL QUILEUTE LIFE
Yaqw – The Quileute concept of prairie. The term yaqw (pl. yayaqw; lexical suffix -lowot) meaning “prai-
rie” in Quileute refers to a lowland area that is not treed. It does not refer to alpine uplands above the
tree line such as the Seven Lakes area (t’sixil t’lotoqwltal, “high lakes-place”). Nor does it refer to wetlands
that were either seasonal marshes or bogs (loq’wt’lil, pl. loloq’wt’lil) or year-round swamps (t’lixa’,
pl. t’lit’ixa’)
The Prairies of Quileute Country. There were 9 main prairies within the traditional Quileute territory and
several small open wetlands. The old people appear to have thought of these prairie areas in terms of five
main groupings. They certainly distinguished one prairie from another within each area, though. The
main prairie areas and the particular prairies that comprised each area were:
A) the Forks Prairie (qit’layaqw, “upriver prairie”) – the large flatland that became the site of the
settlement of Forks. It was extensively exploited in traditional times, both for hunting and foraging, especially
for bracken roots, which provided dependable carbohydrate sources.
B) the Quillayute Prairie (sat’ayaqw, “downriver prairie” or chikwyaqw, “the large prairie”) and
adjacent Little Quillayute Prairie (q’wadiyaqw, “little prairie”) – the site of numerous early homesteads
and the Quillayute airbase during WWII, these adjacent prairie areas were known as the “camas prairie”
(qwalal’alital, “camas getting place”). The Quileute, especially groups of women, visited it often and
much of what they needed to round out subsistence diets was available there.
C) The small Maxfield Creek Prairie (liwaqq’at’sit yaqw, “prairie at the corner (where the river
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