In 1982 the Chinook Indian Nation petitioned the United States for federal acknowledgment under a newly created process for doing so. Chinook's status was eventually clarified when Federal Acknowledgment was granted in 2001 through the Office of Federal Acknowledgment.

The Chinook were prolific traders, and often traveled the network of rivers in the Pacific Northwest trading with other villages and White frontiersmen. They bartered fish products, furs, cedar, carvings, and slaves. They even evolved a special trading language known as Chinook Jargon.

chə- plural Chinook or Chinooks. : a member of an American Indian people of the north shore of the Columbia River at its mouth.

The sole surviving British Chinook, Bravo November, did outstanding service in the Falklands, lifting 81 troops on one occasion and is still in service 38 years later.

This rightful recognition was rescinded by the George W. Bush administration just 18 months later in 2002. Rescinding federal recognition was a declaration that the tribe's sovereignty no longer existed in the eyes of the government, and this decision has led to unconscionable realities for the Chinook people.

Does the Chinook tribe still exist? The Chinook nation is made up of five recognized Chinook Tribes. They are the Willapa, Wahkiakum, Lower Chinook, Kathlamet, and the Clatsop. The five tribes still live in the same area around the mouth of the Columbia River, where it meets the Pacific Ocean.

Chinook, North American Indians of the Northwest Coast who spoke Chinookan languages and traditionally lived in what are now Washington and Oregon, from the mouth of the Columbia River to The Dalles.