Chinook Indians
The Chinook Indians were a non-nomadic tribe and they resided along the lower
and middle portions of the Columbia River, which is in the present day Oregon
and Washington. The Chinook Indians were a very peaceful tribe of Indians
and were very well known for their trading habits.
The Lewis and Clark expedition documented the Chinook Indians. When they
came upon the Columbia River the Chinook Indians welcomed them with open arms,
which was understandable due to their trading nature. The Chinook Indians
were known to trade with people and tribes up to a thousand miles away from
their home territory. The influence the Chinook Indians had on trading can
be easily seen due to the fact that the major trading language became named
after them and partly based on their language, the trading language being
referred to as Chinook Jargon. In order for a massive trading language to
be based partly upon their language the trading that participated in would
have had to have been at a very large scale. Due to their territory being
along the Columbian river a good portion of their trading involved fish, mainly
salmon, but they were also known for trading canoes as well as participating
in slave trade.
Due to the Chinook Indians being non nomadic, as well as other nearby neighboring
tribes, they had little disputes over land. They had all that they needed
within their territory and would trade for other things they desired so there
was no need to fight. The Chinook Indians are referred to as being very peaceful
and laid back in nature. Inner tribe disputes are also known to have been
settled with ritualistic challenges instead of fighting amongst themselves.
One practice they did participate in that may be considered slightly unique
is the practice of head flattening. It seems some people within the tribe
would use a flat piece of wood and press and tie the wood to a toddler’s
head to make the forehead develop as a flat surface. The flatheads would be
held above the round heads in their hierarchy.
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