Chinook

Climate and Environment

The Chinook tribe lived in the northern corner of Oregon. The area used to be known as the Lower Columbia Region. They lived near the Pacific Ocean on rocky beaches and shores south of the Columbia River.

Living so close to the coast they had average temperatures all year round (48-68 degrees). Usually the land was very wet, misty, and foggy, with the occasional sun. The Chinook did not receive snow in the village, unless they were in the high mountains.

Shelter

The Chinook Tribe lived in their village along the Columbia river. They lived in plank houses were 40x80 feet that could fit three families in one house. The homes were buit at the most five feet into the ground, allowing each family to have their own fire pit. Their houses were not just places for them to sleep, they actually spent most of their time during the day. One wall of their home was full of beds for them to sleep on, and on the other side they had racks where they would place their fish to dry. They were also protective of their food so they kept their food inside their homes, along with their possessions.

Food

The area that the Chinook lived in allowed them to hunt for sealions, seals, mussels, clams, and crabs from the Pacific Ocean. The Columbia River supplied the tribe with salmon, steelhead, and trout.

The region they were in was near the ocean and river that spoiled them with food, but they were also near The Coastal Range Mountains that brought game such as elk, black tailed deer, beaver, black bear, cougar, otter, squirre, muskrat, rabbit, and chipmunk.

In the Lower Columbia Region had grassy meadows with plants like Wapato, lupine, camas bulbs, bracken fern, wild onions, and edible thistle. The Chinook also harvested many berries such as blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, salmonberries and blueberries.

The Chinook didn't waste any of the animal they hunted, they would use the fish oil, and bear grease as mosquito repellent.

Thistle

Clothing

Since the temperature wasn't high during the summer or low during the winter the men and women didn't have much of a wardrobe. During the summer the women, like the Tillamook, wore long grass skirts made with cedar bark, and capes made of woven months. When winter came around the women would then wear fur robes, woven hats, elk hide dresses, and rain cloaks.

The men wore breech cloth held up by a woven belt during the summers, and when winter comes around they switch to elk hide shirts and leggings. They would also wear fur robes and woven rain hats, rain cloaks, and if it got to cold they would wear a blanket to keep warm. Since they lived on the coast the men and women would often run around bare foot because the leather from the moccasins would get ruined because of the wet land.

A unique feature of the Chinook Tribe is that they had a more flattened head. When a baby was born they would get their heads strapped to a cradleboard that flattened their heads from the nose to the crown of the head.

Transportation

The Chinook didn't have the luxury of having horses to travel around the land on. Instead the only transportation they needed was their canoe. They would take the canoe out on the Columbia River for fishing, or out into the Pacific Ocean.