The Chinook tribe is actually one of several Lower Chinook tribes who spoke Chinookan languages. Chinook people lived along the final stretch of the Columbia River, along with neighboring Lower Chinook peoples–the Clatsop and Cathlamet. The Chinook tribe is based as far west as you can go, right at the river mouth on the Washington side.

Excelling in both canoe navigation and trade along the river and coast alike, Chinook people led trade historically between native people upriver, and into Alaska along the Pacific Coast. A vast network used a trade language known as ‘Chinook Jargon,’ made up of words from several native and European languages. Today, Chinook people are still working for federal recognition as a tribe.