Quileute Nation Featured at Smithsonian, but Work by Twilight's Jacob Black Will Not Be Included
Posted 01.09.12 by Mandy
A new exhibition is opening this week at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian called “Behind the Scenes: The Real Story of the Quileute Wolves," and the museum points out that "the tribe's heritage does not include werewolves." Maybe Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga isn't based on a true story after all.
The exhibition will showcase 23 rare works of Quileute art including headresses, rattles, baskets, and more. There are also historic drawings from the early 20th century made by teens who attended the Quileute Day School at Mora, WA (near Jacob Black's hometown, La Push). The events depicted in the teens' drawings include wolf ritual dances, shamanistic performances, and whaling scenes, but the drawings apparently do not include any scenes of brutal fights against sparkly-skinned vampires.
The exhibition does acknowledge Twilight, and the influence the franchise has had on the tribe. In a twelve-minute looped video that is part of the exhibit, topics of oral histories and cultural traditions are discussed, as well as interviews where tribal members and teens discuss the Twilight phenomenon.
The exhibition, organized by the Quileute Nation, has already run at the Seattle Art Museum, and will run at the Smithsonian from January 13, 2012 through May 9, 2012.