Tribes of the Chinook Nation

• Cathlamet• Wahkiakum• Clatsop• Willapa• Lower Chinook

Pre-1900’s

• Multiplicity of nature spirits– Each character has its own personality– Grizzlies were evil– Blue jay was crazy– Bear Woman was a “kindly mother”– Coyote was the most prominent• Coyote was like a “stand for a well-to-do village leader

who concerns himself with the peoples’ welfare” (Boyd, 115).

• By the 19th century, Sáxali tayí (“The Great Chief Above) was implemented into belief system

• Chinookan storytelling was an art form that could only be transmitted by word of mouth

• Tah (guardian spirit) is a term used to describe an invisible force; independent of a material being itself

• The internal poetic structures and cadences of Chinookan tales have been lost through transcription and translation

• Tah conferred particular powers to boys and girls during spirit quests

• The power was then displayed during winter ceremonies through song and pantomime

• Walla Walla spirit quest as described by ethnographer Marcus Whitman (Boyd, 118).

• Unconsciousness is “dead”; it is a potential avenue to make contact with the supernatural

• Post-contact: the belief of good and bad tah was adopted due to Christianity

• Shamans (medicine men) used tah to aid in curing (Boyd, 121). Accounts almost always included exorcism.

• Ipétes refers to “a sacred package of a particular tutelary spirit” It is as personal as one’s spirit song and has a power all its own– Examples: Bear claw, wolf tail, feather, fur or

stoneSuch charms are always buried with the body

• Salmon blood is aut-ni (sacred)– The 1st of the year, blood from a beheaded salmon

is collected in a “basin”, kept for 5 days, and poured back into the river by a shaman. The rest of the villagers are present and a feast follows.

• Winter Spirit Dance: – Held in December and January in large house with a

center pole– New guardian spirits were “made obvious” to the

audience– Ceremony was open to all with guardian spirits; they

could perform their individual spirit songs and dances. Symbolic clothing ornaments identified the spirit

– Shamans sponsored the ceremonies; guiding novices and performing tricks like handling hot rocks and swallowing fire or boiling water

– Gifts were distributed during the final days of the ceremony

• 1774: initial contact with Spanish ships• 1805: Direct contact with Lewis and Clark• 1838: Chinookans had control of their destiny• 1847: Open warfare and forced removals• 1850’s: reservations established– Population had dropped to less than a quarter of

the original numbers.– Fishing and gathering economies were disrupted– Removed from original homes– Religious systems were changed

Disease and depopulation

• Smallpox epidemic killed around 30% of population in the late 18th century

• 2nd epidemic passed through in early 19th century along with White venereal diseases and tuberculosis

• 1805: Lewis and Clarke estimated a population of 9,800

• 1843: Perkins estimated a population of 1,500

Material Culture

• Wooden tools were replaced with iron tools when trading was introduced

• White clothes were adopted• Establishment of Astoria (fur-trading post) in

1811 and Fort Vancouver in 1824 increased Chinookans availability of material resources

Elijah White’s Law Code• Chinook social relations were worked on the

level of kin relations• Chiefs were family heads and held little true

authority• White’s law code was the first official set of

laws established among the Chinooks and was considered federal law

• Contentions among tribes increased as some chiefs refused to punish their people

Struggle for Federal Recognition

• 1851: Chinooks signed a treaty but it was never ratified

• 1855: Asked to sing another treaty which would relocate the Chinooks north with a tribe that they do not get along with.– They refused the treaty and Governor Stephens

stormed out. That was the last time they heard officially from the govt. in regards to treaties.

• In the 1960’s, the BIA crossed the Chinook nation off the list. The press circulated that the Chinooks were extinct even though they had not been terminated by Congress.

• While considered “unrecognized” land was taken away from elders and others.

• In 2001, recognition was granted. However, it was appealed and the decision was overturned.

• As a result of the struggle, the Chinooks have more documentation proving their existence than most recognized tribes.

• The Chinook nation is suing the federal govt. for recognition.

• 30% of the area’s local school children are Chinook.

• They have a solid govt. and still have the traditional salmon ceremony.

• They have a scholarship program set up with $48,000 in scholarships.

• They are working for grants for a health clinic.

• They encourage any tribe in a similar situation, “don’t give up. You will do a disservice to your ancestors to give up. We have to honor them. We have to get them back to their place in history as soon as possible”

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