All about the ancient tribes
They live scattered throughout towns and villages in Oregon and Washington state. In the past, each Chinook village was led by its own local chief or headman, who was always a high-ranking clan leader. Today, the Chinook Indians are governed by a tribal council elected by all the people.
The Chinook Indians, relatives to the Clatsop tribe, lived in the Northwest along the banks of the Columbia River and the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The Chinooks were superb canoe builders and navigators, masterful traders, skillful fishermen and planters.
The river was a rich source of salmon, the basis of the regional economy, and many groups traded with the Chinook for dried fish. Other important trade items were slaves from California, Nuu-chah-nulth ( Nootka ) canoes, and dentalium shells, which were highly valued as hair and clothing ornaments.
The Chinook used shells as a form of currency.
The Chinook Indian Nation, consisting of the five westernmost Tribes of Chinookan peoples, Lower Chinook, Clatsop, Willapa, Wahkiakum and Kathlamet is currently (2020) working to obtain federal recognition.
The religion and beliefs of the Chinook tribe was based on the belief in a Great Spirit and consisted of a mythology based on protective spirits and animal deities. One of their most important rituals of the Chinook tribe was the First Salmon feast which honored the salmon.
The Chinook is named after the Chinook Indians who lived along the Columbia River, and who were the first people to tell stories of “The Great South Wind”, or, in their language, the “Snow Eater”.
1: a member of an American Indian people of the north shore of the Columbia River at its mouth. 2: a Chinookan language of the Chinook and other nearby peoples. 3 or less commonly chinook. a: a warm moist southwest wind of the coast from Oregon northward.
No, the Chinook Indian Nation is not Federally recognized. Does the Chinook Indian Nation have a casino?
Today, most Chinooks live in southwestern Washington and scattered around the Pacific Northwest. Population In 1780, roughly 22,000 Chinookans lived in their territory, a figure that declined to less than 100 in the late nineteenth century. Chinook tribal membership stood at more than 2,000 in 1983.
The Chinook built large cedar plank houses. The cedar plankhouse was the typical permanent dwelling of the Chinook and other coastal Northwest people. The size of these sturdy buildings ranged from approximately 14 x 20 feet to 40 x 100 feet.
The Chinook Indian Nation, a confederation of the Lower Chinook, Clatsop, Willapa, Wahkiakum, and Kathlamet bands includes 2,300 people. Chinook host four-day Lewis and Clark Bicentennial event in Chinook, Washington.
The Chinook tribe’s main way of transportation was the canoe. They had many, many types of canoes. Some types of canoes that they had was the big seagoing canoe, the shovelnose canoe, and the Chinook Canoe.
As his ears acclimated, Jewitt was able to concede that: “Their tunes are generally soft and plaintive, and though not possessing great variety, are not deficient in harmony. Their singing is generally accompanied with several rude kinds of instrumental music; among the most prominent of which is a kind of drum.