How it came to be
Chiloquin is a small town in Klamath County, Oregon. It started establishing as a town in 1910 when a railroad was made from Klamath Falls to Kirk. Chiloquin’s name comes from Edison Chiloquin’s Great-Grandfather and Edison was the first resident of Chiloquin.
There is now a confederation of three Native American Tribes, the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin, that Tribal Government is based in Chiloquin.
I’ve lived in Chiloquin/Klamath County until I was 14 years old and after moving, with my dad to Utah, I would still visit my mom in Chiloquin at least once a year.
Edison Chiloquin
Edison is well known for refusing payment from the Government for his tribal lands; he believed that no amount of money was enough for to purchase his tribal land which he believed was invaluable. The Preservation of his culture was very important to Edison which he did by passing the traditions and knowledge down to offsprings and then turned it into a sort of camp for other locals.
If you would like to know more about Chiloquin’s Traditions, you can read them from “Return of the Raven” which Edison wrote with his wife before she passed in 1979.
Next time I’m in Oregon, I am going to get myself a copy of this book, it would a nice read and it would be nice to compare the traditions of Edison to how I was raised to see if any of the traditions really stuck.
One huge thing that Edison did was save some of his tribal land from being bought from the Government. There was a termination of the Klamath Tribe that would take away tribal lands from the tribes and the government would have control which Edison stood opposed for years.
Trying to save some title of his ancestor’s land, he kept fighting and refused government payment which raised to $250,000. It all turned around though in 1980, after six years of fighting and refusing pay Edison got title for some of his family’s land about 560 acres.
Folklores & Native Stories
Chiloquin is home to some chilling and interesting tales, not a lot of the ones I grew up with are online or really have a source besides locals talking about it. I will share the ones that are online then I will share my favorite tale I grew up with.
Klamath Indian Legends
Talks about how Crater Lake was made and how the Native Americans believe how it came. It talks about how spirits chiefs formed the mountains and how the crater was created. It’s said that the spirit chief of the below world fell for a human maiden, but the maiden didn’t want to marry him. This frustrated the below world chief, and he cause Mahnam until the good chief came to stop his destruction.
To make sure the below world chief wouldn’t come back to torture the Natives, the good chief caused the mountain (that was once Crater Lake) to cave into a crater. The Natives doing the rain dance to put out all the fires that the below world chief made, with all the rain it caused the crater to fill with water and that’s how Crater Lake was created.
Myths of Crater Lake (There are many tales and legends about how Crater Lake came to be, the link will take you to see a couple of the other versions)
- Crater Lake and the Two Hunters: Talks about the lake as a realm inhabited by spirits of the dead, dangerous to the living, and safely accessible only to powerful shamans. Two hunters, defying this taboo, travel to Crater Lake, and are destroyed.
- Another Crater Lake Legend: A group of hunters discovers the lake. One man is greatly drawn to it, returning again and again to swim in its waters and to camp on the overlooking cliffs. In this way he acquires great spirit power. Ultimately, however, he is killed by one of the spirit creatures which dwells in the lake. which is interesting because this also relates to the folklore about the Klamath Monster.
Folklores
Klamath Monster: “A man and a boy were going to Klamath Marsh afoot. The boy was six or seven. The man wanted to try swimming in Ska´mdi. He told the boy, “If those things bite and kill me, you go home.” The man and had lost his wife; the boy alone was left. “I do not want to stay here; I want to die,” the man said. The boy cried to him not to swim there. He walked back from the river bank, ran and plunged in.
Big animals reached up and bit him. They came up twice; then he appeared no more. The boy saw it and wept. He started home; it took all night for him to reach Bezükse´, below Chiloquin. At Ska´mdi the water boils and cannot move down river. No one can swim there; something always bites and kills them.”
Favorite Folklore
I don’t remember the name to this particular tale, so I’ll say it how my family calls it.
The eyes in the woods:
In Chiloquin’s woods there lurks an entity, a guardian spirit. It’s said that saying these entities name will start luring them towards your location, the more times you say the name the more that gather. If one comes across them, just remember, if their eyes beam red you are okay, and they don’t mind you being there. But if their eyes shine green that is the first warning to leave, if you don’t take this seriously, they will start to growl and if you still don’t leave the area that’s when they will start to attack.
They have razor sharp claws that can shred up metal and they travel in groups which makes them even more dangerous. These entities are known for being able to tell if someone is a good person and if they respect nature. The Entities will help those in need but don’t take their protection lightly not everyone deserves to be protected.
