I remember being fascinated by Mt. St. Helens and the big 18 May, 1980, eruption. But until around 2018, I have not taken into account how the local First Nations regarded the volcano. Native American legends have a lot of insight into local history, and it shouldn't surprise anybody that they include figures similar to the likes of Helen of Troy.
The Klickitat, Puyallup, Cowlitz, and Yakima nations all have their own interpretations about the Cascades Range. According to the Klickitat, Mt St Helens was originally a fair maiden named Loowit.
Loowit, meaning "Lady of Fire" or "Keeper of the Fire", was originally an elderly woman who tended the communal fire for the Klickitat and Multnomah on the north and south sides, respectively, of the Columbia River gorge. Loowit had kept herself from the continual fights between the chieftains of both nations, the hotheaded brothers Wy'east of the Multnomah and Pahtoe of the Klickitat, and still had fire in her lodge when Tyhee Saghalie, the Chieftain of the Gods, had extinguished all fires and obscured the sun for both nations as punishment.
Tyhee Saghalie was moved by the despair of both nations and, unable to produce fire of his own power, gratefully requested that Loowit bring her fire to the middle of the Tahmahnnawis ("Bridge of the Gods"), the earthen bridge over the river by which both nations can visit, so that both the Klickitat and Multnomah could easily get the fire. He granted Loowit eternal life, but she objected, stating that she did not want to live forever as an old woman. Tyhee Saghalie could not take back the gift and decided to grant her a wish; she promptly wished to be young and beautiful again. And so was done.
Transformed into a fair maiden, Loowit continued to keep the communal fire, but the chieftains Wy'east and Pahtoe were no less aware of her transformation than their people and quickly became infatuated with her. Unfortunately, Loowit could not decide which of the brothers she preferred; Wy'east and Pahtoe began fighting again and this time the war engulfed both their nations; their war burned and buried countless villages and whole forests. In the middle of it all, Loowit tried her hardest to protect the communal fire. The Tahmahnnawis, which would only stand as long as relations between the nations were good, crumbled and collapsed into the river, taking her with it.
Tyhee Saghalie, fed up with the endless fighting of the brothers, struck down all three lovers, turning them into mountains; haughty Wy'east became what is now known as Mt Hood, head held high; Pahtoe, tenderhearted despite his temper, became what is now known as Mt Adams, his head bowed in sorrow at the loss of beautiful Loowit. The brothers still bicker and throw fire and stones at each other.
Loowit was turned into what is now known as Mt St Helens; Tyhee Saghalie kept his promise to her and turned her into a mountain that still had the youth and beauty that he promised her as a human.
Mt St Helens, geologically speaking, is just an adolescent compared to the rest of the mountains in the Cascade Range. Before the 1980 eruption, she was a gracefully symmetrical cone, often called the "Mt Fuji of the West". Could Loowit, the adolescent "Lady of Fire", have been expressing her anger? Could she have been eager to undo what she possibly did not intend?
I would like to know what Klicktat women would typically wear, traditionally; I just want to do justice to at least one specific culture. I certainly want to depict said people(s) accurately.
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