LAPUSH — Werewolves are not part of the cultural tradition of the Quileute, and that point will be made on Reelzchannel-TV’s “Twilight Weekly: Spotlight,” which airs Friday.
Author Stephenie Meyer cast some Quileute as werewolves in her best-selling vampire novels set in Forks, LaPush and Port Angeles.
No werewolves
Although the Quileute have extensive stories about wolves in their heritage, they have no stories about werewolves.
“It was very important to this nation to partner with an organization that we felt understood that the non-fictional Quileute story is more complex, multidimensional and sacred than [the one] everyone has been exposed to,” tribal publicist Jackie Jacobs said.
“We have been inundated with requests from various outlets to tell the story but felt that Reelzchannel embodied the authentic direction we wanted to explore while keeping it fun and interesting for the fans.”
The network visited LaPush to hear storytelling from tribal elders and film on location.
‘New Moon’
The Quileute tribe plays a prominent role in the upcoming film, “New Moon,” which is based on the second of four books in the Meyer’s Twilight series.
The books detail the love story of vampire Edward Cullen and human Bella Swan. Their love is challenged in the second book when a Quileute boy, Jacob Black, also makes a play for Bella’s heart.
In the tale, some of the Quileute teens are depicted as developing into werewolves to protect humans from nearby vampires.
The episode of “Twilight Weekly” originally aired on Monday and will re-air on Friday at 7 p.m.
It may be viewed on channel 238 on DirecTV and channel 299 on Dish Network. It is not available on Wave Broadband.
“Reelzchannel is both humbled and honored that the Quileute nation entrusted us with providing the first ever television camera access to their lands and to their people to share with our ‘Twilight Weekly: Spotlight’ viewers,” said Stan Hubbard, chief executive officer of Reelzchannel.
“This is a tremendous responsibility, and we thank the Quileute nation and its people not only for the access but for their guidance in helping us understand their people, lands and traditions.
For clips of the show and more information, visit www.reelzchannel.com.