The Chinook Indian Nation

The Chinook Indian Nation is made up of the five western-most Chinookan speaking tribes at the mouth of the Columbia River. Our nearly 70-year-old constitution codifies who we are and identifies our five constituent tribes – the Clatsop and Cathlamet (Kathlamet) of present-day Oregon and the Lower Chinook, Wahkiakum (Waukikum) and Willapa (Weelappa) of what is now Washington State.

Our Nation’s constitution was first drafted in 1925 by the Tribal leaders of these Tribes and was later amended in the early 1950s. The constitution outlines Tribal membership criteria and clearly references five Anson Dart treaties signed by our ancestors at Tansy Point in 1851, it is also one of the oldest living tribal constitutions in the Pacific Northwest.