That’s the New York Times’ take on the effect the “Twilight” book and movie series has had on the Quileute Nation on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.

As Angela R. Riley of Los Angeles writes, here:

To millions of “Twilight” fans, the Quileute are Indians whose (fictional) ancient treaty transforms young males of the tribe into vampire-fighting wolves. To the nearly 700 remaining Quileute Indians, “Twilight” is the reason they are suddenly drawing extraordinary attention from the outside — while they themselves remain largely excluded from the vampire series’ vast commercial empire.

Just last month, MSN.com issued an apology to the Quileute for intruding on its territory while videotaping a “Twilight” virtual tour in September. MSN.com sought permission from the Chamber of Commerce in nearby Forks, Wash., but didn’t pay the same courtesy to the Quileute. The video team trespassed onto a reservation cemetery and taped Quileute graves, including those of esteemed tribal leaders. These images were then set to macabre music and, in November, posted on MSN.com. The tribe quickly persuaded MSN.com to remove the Quileute images.

It seems that everybody is rushing to cash in on the Quileute. Riley tells of Quileute hoodies being sold on Nordstrom.com (we didn’t find any at Nordstrom’s, but they’re on Cafe Press, here), charms with what purports to be Quileute werewolf tattoos, and tour companies bringing busloads of people onto the reservation – all earning money, none of it going to the tribe.

Riley argues that even though such activities are perfectly legal, the morally correct thing to do would be to cut the Quileute in on such deals – both in making decisions about what’s sold, and also in terms of profiting from use of their cultural property.

We like the argument put forth by Riley, who directs the American Indian Studies Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, and informally advises the Quileute Tribe as a volunteer.

But are we holding our breath waiting for any of those things to happen?

Um, no.

Gwen Florio

Tags: "Twilight Saga: New Moon", "Twilight", buffalo post, intellectual property, Los Angeles, Native American news, Quileute Nation, Stephenie Meyer, UCLA American Indian Studies Center, University of California