215 Years of Broken Promises & Failed Obligations

1805 Lewis & Clark arrive in Chinook territory on the North side of the Columbia. Ten days later they moved to Clatsop land on the South side to build Ft. Clatsop.

1848 Oregon Territorial status assures that the government will deal with Natives in good faith and never take their land without consent.

1851 Superintendent of Indian Affairs Anson Dart negotiates the Tansy Point treaties. The treaties allow the Chinook to remain in their homelands and promise both provisions and annuities.

1852 The Tansy Point Treaties are read intothe Congressional record, but they are not ratified at that time.

1853 Chinookan peoples living on oppositesides of the river are artificially divided when the government creates Washington Territory.

1855 Chehalis River Treaty negotiations are held. Governor Stevens insists the tribes relocate to a single reservation far to the north. When the Chinook and their neighbors refused Stevens left the treaty grounds.

1864 By order of the Secretary of the Interior, the U.S. government takes the whole of Chinookan territory in Southwest Washington.

1899 Chinook petition the Claims Commission seeking damages underthe Tansy Point treaties.The claim results in annuity payments in 1912.

1951 The Chinook Nation sues in the Court of Indian Claims arguing that the $26,308 awarded in 1912 for the 762,000 acres relinquished wasunconscionable. In 1970, the Claims Commission awarded $75,000 for the aboriginal Clatsop and Lower Chinook lands after which after deductingthe previous balance results in a final judgment of $48,692 (10¢ an acre) Although awarded, Chinook has not received these funds because of being removed from the list of federally recognized tribes.

1994 After petitioning the government under a new process created in late 1970s, Chinook is finally placed on active consideration by the Office of Federal Acknowledgment. After several months Chinook receives a preliminary negative determination.

1999 Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, Kevin Gover, hires an independent scholar to assess Chinook history and advise on the tribe’s federal relationship.