The Chinook Tribe, located in the Pacific Northwest, had Upper and Lower bands and lived in longhouses. They traded extensively, relied on salmon for food, and practiced potlatching. They believed in a central god and animal gods, and had a vision quest tradition. They flattened their children’s foreheads for beauty. They were peaceful and hired assassins as a last resort. Disease greatly reduced their population, and the remaining Chinooks live on reservations in Washington and Oregon.
The Chinook Tribe is a Native American group originally found in the Pacific Northwest. Their territory ranged from present-day British Columbia, Canada to eastern Washington State, and their villages were located along the Columbia River. Their bands were called Upper and Lower Chinooks, depending on where they lived along the river. European traders began interacting with these Indians in the late 16th century, and in 1805, Lewis and Clark recorded their visit with the Chinook tribe.
Members of the Chinook tribe lived in small kin groups led by a temporary leader, usually a respected elder. They built longhouses ranging from 60 feet (18.29 m) to 100 feet (30.48 m) long and 40 feet (12.19 m) wide with cedar planks and bark roofs. Each building housed an extended family and was divided into smaller rooms with woven mats hung from the ceiling for the closest family groups. Sleeping platforms such as bunks were built along the walls.
The Chinook’s location at the mouth of the river gave them the opportunity to develop an excellent trading network, and they traded with tribes in their region and as far north as the Great Plains. They also relied on hunting and fishing, mostly salmon. Every spring the salmon travel upriver to return to their birthplace and spawn. This event, called the salmon run, was celebrated by the rite of the First Salmon.
The Chinook tribe believed that the universe was created by a central god called Nenkanie. They were animists who worshiped animal gods such as the crow, eagle, whale, bear and beaver. Teenage boys and some girls were encouraged to embark on a vision quest in which they would go alone into the wilderness to seek their personal spiritual guide. They believed these guides would help them hunt or trade or give them special gifts, such as the gift of healing.
Like many northeastern tribes, the Chinook Tribe practiced potlatching, a ceremony in which a family donated some or all of its wealth to other people in the tribe. This was a method of gaining status as well as a way of celebrating a significant event such as a birth, wedding, or building a new home. A potlatch was accompanied by a large feast and celebration which could last up to three days. Even if a family donated all of its possessions, it did not remain destitute for long and often received most of its possessions in future potlatches hosted by other families.
A native of the Chinook tribe he was easily identified by his flat forehead. When a baby is born, the skull is soft and can be shaped by pressure. The Chinooks considered a flat forehead to be a beauty trait, so they tied a small board to their children’s heads to flatten the forehead. The Chinooks were a peaceful people who preferred to settle disputes through contests, and were not very successful in battle. If a peaceful dispute couldn’t resolve the dispute, they were known to hire assassins from neighboring tribes to take care of their opponents.
The Chinook tribe was estimated to have had nearly 20,000 members in the seventeenth century, but their numbers were greatly diminished by disease. The tribe eventually lost nearly ninety percent of its population. The remaining Chinooks live with other Native American groups on Warm Springs, Yakima, Chehalis, Quinnaut, and Grand Rondel reservations in Washington and Oregon.
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