Chinook

The Chinook people lived primarily along the Columbia River near the pacific coast and to the south along the Oregon coastal area. The Chinook existed as a number of tribes related by custom and Chinookian language stock. The Chinook were known as prolific traders, salmon fishers and hunters. The Chinook traded widely with other tribes as far away as the northern Great Plains and Alaska, providing dried salmon, seashells and captured slaves. A pidgin trade language known as "Chinook Jargon" was widely understood and facilitated this trade.

The Lewis and Clark expedition wintered over near the mouth of the Columbia River in 1805-'06 and was the first to describe the Chinook, who had villages nearby. Chinook people were skilled with watercraft and constructed fish weirs to catch enormous amounts of salmon. Spearing especially large individual fish from platforms built over the rapids of the Columbia was another popular method. The salmon was smoked and dried in large smokehouses filled with racks of filleted fish. The Chinook dominance of trade ended when European disease decimated the Chinook population in the early 1800's. Tiny remnant populations exist today on reservations in Washington and Oregon. Although, the Cattle Point Site represents a good example of this culture from earlier times.

Image Courtesy of Robert Savannah, an artist working for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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