We are Chinook, depicts the Chinook Indian Nation- a community founded on the strength of its ancestors, and resolved to continue its legacy for the generations that follow.

The southwest Washington tribe’s ancestral lands sit at the mouth of the Columbia River. Its people fell victim to the Indian Termination Policies of the 1950s, when the stroke of a pen eliminated federal recognition for more than 100 Indian nations. The Chinook Indian Nation was essentially declared nonexistent in the eyes of the government and they have been fighting for acknowledgement ever since.

Formal recognition would allow the nation to look after their people, without it, they have all the issues of Indian Country, but no way to help those suffering. It is essential for economic development, the establishment of a land base, preservation of culture and the ability to repatriate ancestors’ bones and sacred items. Most recently, when the the government announced an extraordinary $43 Billion COVID stimulus package to improve healthcare, education, and provide broadband internet to tribal communities with the highest needs, the Chinook Indian Nation received no money, as the stimulus bill only applied to recognized tribes.

However, the Chinook are resilient, and the fight for recognition continues.

This ongoing project focuses on the intersection of the present with the past. It examines how one nation straddles the world of traditional and indigenous ways, within a society built upon Colonial values.

My goal is to show how hard a native people have worked to keep their culture alive. Despite all, they survive, the descendants of chiefs, canoe makers, weavers, doctors, hunters and fishermen. Descendants of a community pushed to the brink of extinction.

This is important not just for the Chinook Indian Nation, but as a historical record of our times. Such recognition does honor to all of us who have come from rich and varied backgrounds to share life in these United States.