La Push (Washington)

Clallam County

53-38390

La Push is a small unincorporated village with about 350 inhabitants in Clallam County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in the northwest of the 258 -acre Quileute Indian Reservation and is inhabited by members of the tribe of the Quileute.

Geography

The town is located 19 km west of Forks on the Pacific coast at the mouth of the Quillayute River, the confluence of the Sol Duc River and Bogachiel River. The place is accessible via the U.S. Highway 101 branches off from the La Push Road, State Road 110. The land side of the town is surrounded by the rain forest of the Olympic National Park, to the north it is bordered by the Quillayute River, which can be crossed only by boat. Located to north of the river and the National Park belonging Rialto Beach leads the Mora Road, an offshoot of the La Push Road. The beach at La Push is called First Beach. The south of it reaching to the Teahwhit Head to Second Beach and Third Beach Taylor Point -reaching are back in the Olympic National Park and part of the Olympic Wilderness Coast. Prior to First Beach is Akalat or James Iceland, up to 49 meters high rock island.

History

La Push is over a thousand years home to the Quileute. The name La Push comes from French la bouche, meaning " mouth ", this name was given to the place of French-Canadian fur traders and describes the location of the settlement at the river mouth. The original name of the Quileute for their village was Ziliyut. The Quileute Indian Reservation was established on 22 February 1889. The Quileute thereby established their claims to over 3000 square kilometers of land, but retained their hunting and fishing rights. In the same year, however, a of a white settler of causing the fire destroyed all the 26 houses of the village, when the inhabitants were at harvest. With the traditional houses, almost all hunting weapons, masks, and other cultural objects of Quileute were destroyed. 1931 established the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boat harbor at the mouth of the Quillayute River. Through the construction of the previously connected by a headland with the mainland to the island was James Iceland. The root of the Quileute was in 1936 a constitution, which was confirmed in 1937 by the U.S. Department of Interior. Thereafter, the strain forms a political entity with the United States, managed, however himself The Tribal Council consists of five elected members for three years. On April 17, 1963, the Quileute and the neighboring tribe of the Hoh received U.S. $ 112,152.60 as additional compensation for their land ceded in 1889. Located on the site of ancient settlement today the tribal administration and a small museum. In July each year are the Quileute Days, celebrated a mixture of traditional and modern tribal festival city festival.

Economy and infrastructure

Fishing, forestry and tourism today form the basis of life for the tribe of the Quileute. The farms are operated by the tribe, there are no private companies. In the resort seafood are processed, there is also a fish farm. Outside the reservation managed the tribe an additional 240 acres of land. The town has its own school, the Quileute Tribal School. The U.S. Coast Guard maintains a station in La Push.

Tourism

At the First Beach is Oceanside Resort, which is operated by the tribe. The first huts of the Oceanside Resort have been built in the 1930s. Today it is a modern luxury hotel, which is fitted as a destination for leisure seekers without television. In the spring, is the place of destination Walbeobachtern, in the summer of fishing and hiking and in autumn and winter a target for storm watching. The First Beach is a popular surfing area in the summer and early autumn. The town has a marina. As a venue for the Twilight saga La Push is visited by many day trippers. For visitors and tourists the tribe has adopted codes of conduct, so that they do not violate the customs and traditions of Native Americans.

La Push in the literature

In the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer La Push is home to Jacob Black and the werewolves. As a template for this purpose the author Stephenie Meyer used the creation story of the Quileute, after Kwati, transducer, two wolves in human transformed to colonize the area. In the second volume of the series, in The Twilight Saga, La Push is a major venue.

The youth book Indigo Summer by Antje Babendererde plays mostly in La Push.