By Jean Johnson
In the right light a bright sheen rests on the carefully combed hair of Chinook tribal chairman, Gary Johnson. The tall man’s silver braid hangs down his back over the orange and brown Pendleton vest he wears for special occasions. Through oval glasses, Johnson’s eyes are strong and match the rose brown glow of his face. His voice, though, trembles from years on the forefront of a sad history, and there is a plaintive and weary tone when he speaks.
“Clearly our issue has to do with the Clatsop-Nehalem forming a new tribe just in time for the bicentennial,” Johnson said. “The Chinook tribal constitution was formally written in 1953, and it represented all the tribes on the river that worked together and spoke the same language and were considered to be one people throughout all of recorded history. Our tribal roles come from 1906. A land claims case shows Chinook territory on both sides of the river, and payment for those lands (some of it at the rate of only 10 cents an acre) comes to the Chinook and is recorded with us. This is clearly Chinook territory.”
Johnson went on to explain that today’s Chinook Nation comprises “the Wahkiakum, Cathlamet, Clatsop, Willapa, and Lower Chinookan tribes who were located near the mouth of the Columbia River—people who have intermarried and share the same the same language, culture and history.”
Indeed, tourists looking for something more complex than the typical doings associated with the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial might keep the Chinook Nation on their radar screen. Disputes between tribes, stories about the BIA losing papers in drawers and simply dropping the Chinook from its list of federally recognized tribes. A 2005 archaeological find with an undetermined fate, accounts of southeast Washington’s fishing industry throwing its weight around (and Congressmen listening), not to mention what it’s like running a tribe on volunteer leadership will be on the table, along with the free salmon dinner the Chinooks plan to host for 2000 to 3000 people come November 2005.
People hoping to connect up with the Chinooks, though, will have to be alert because the tribe has bowed out of all formal doings in which the Clatsop-Nehalem people are present. Tribal council member Sam Robinson sports a red t-shirt with an inky black Chinookan frog design and his necklaces have miniature replicas of distinctive fin-shaped Chinookan paddles. “We will still be a presence on both sides of the river,” Robinson said. “And in addition to roasting salmon for our guests, we’ll show off some of our culture with stick games and basket making. We also plan to have slide presentations and videos, as well as a forum in which our elders can speak to people.”
Descendents of skilled navigators, the Chinooks will also have four canoes in the water during the four days of events. And Robinson noted that they will make it a point to meet the keel boat that historic re-enactor Scott Mandrell is scheduled to bring down the Columbia for the bicentennial. On an earlier scouting party, Mandrell met the Chinook entourage and formed a fast bond with tribal members. The Chinook tribe is also putting together a grant for funds to make 100 drums that tribal members plan to be beating on both sides of the Columbia.
Being heard — that’s the problem that Chinook have faced over and over again throughout the past 150 years. First there was the issue of living on prime real estate at the mouth of the river and near Willapa Bay where incoming settlers wanted to fish. Even though the Chinooks signed a treaty in 1851, Congress did not ratify it and sent the Army back to Chinook country in 1855 with a second treaty. This time it was the Chinooks who rejected the offer because the terms of the deal meant forsaking their traditional homeland.
Councilman Ray Gardner’s cobalt blue glass trade beads stand out against his white shirt. He’s the fourth generation to have worn the beads and the original butcher string his great grandmother put them on is still intact. “Our land was the hub of commercial activity, and the federal government wanted it,” Gardner said.
Even without a signed treaty, however, the Supreme Court recognized the Chinooks and awarded members around 70,000 acres of timber land within the Quinault Reservation in the 1930s. Also, Chinooks went to Indian schools and received health care from the Indian Health Service—that is until some point in the 1950s when the BIA simply dropped the Chinook from its list of federally recognized tribes. “It’s not clear why the Chinook were knocked off the list,” historian Steven Dow Beckham said. “There is no act, no document terminating the relationship.”
To make matters even more frustrating, after two decades of accumulating historic documents the Chinooks finally were recognized by the Clinton administration in 2001, only to have the decision challenged by the Quinault tribe and subsequently rescinded by the Bush administration just two days after the President invited Chinook leaders to the White House to kick off the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial events.
History has not been kind to the Chinooks. But the tribe hasn’t given up. Even in the midst of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial upset, the Chinooks worked with Washington state representative Brian Baird to get a bill on federal recognition prepared for Congress. But that too, came to naught last summer. Baird and the Chinook leaders met to discuss what councilmen thought would be the attachment of their bill as a rider on a bill that enlarged the boundaries of Fort Clatsop National Park. But the conversation quickly disintegrated around the topic of fishing and how the tribe might use their fishing rights if they became federally recognized. “We thought the national park bill was the perfect place to attach ours, but Brian Baird seemed to want to talk about fishing more than anything,” said Sam Robinson. “And it wasn’t too long after he met with us that we heard he and Patty Murray were having lunch with the fisherman’s lobby.”
Councilman Robinson may by skeptical about the political winds, but the Chinook tribal chairman, Mr. Johnson, is more restrained. “Let me put it this way,” said Johnson. “I think it’s very valuable for us to maintain good relations with senators Murray and Cantwell and Brian Baird. We’ve had a lot of good meetings with Mr. Baird, and I have to maintain a positive approach.”
Mr. Johnson sticks to the high side on the recent archaeological find in Chinook country as well. In January 2005, a Chinook village was unearthed at the mouth of the Columbia during a Washington State Historical Society sponsored project to create a park at Station Camp where Lewis and Clark stayed. Chip Jenkins, superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park on the Oregon side at Fort Clatsop, called the find one that is “representative of the first global economy. Trade goods from Czechoslovakia and England were exchanged for Chinook pelts which were then taken to China. There was a mix of cultures right there—it represents an amazing sweep of history.”
In the aftermath of the find, parties discussed various options including capping the site with an asphalt road. The idea is that at this point funds are not available for a full scale archaeological dig, and that a road would preserve the site for a future date when excavation might be possible. “I believe that David Nicandri, director of the Washington State Historical Society, recognizes the significance of our village site of Quat sa mts at Station Camp, and we will be working with him for it's protection,” Johnson said. “Time will tell what position is taken but I don't think that we know at this point.”
Thus, although tenuous might be one way of understanding the Chinook’s present and historic situation, it’s critical to realize that the tribe is a people who have prevailed. The Chinooks are still here, and they want to be recognized. They have their canoes and their specially made paddles that mimic the fins of fishes. They have their blue glass trade beads and their art and their songs. And even though leaders have day jobs—and the tribe lacks federal support that most tribes enjoy—the Chinooks will have their fires going during the bicentennial. Those interested in hearing the story of the Chinook Nation only need to follow the sound of the drums and smell of roasting salmon.
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