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Washington state Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, led the Washington state Legislature in honoring the Chinook Indian Nation in the final days of the state's 2026 legislative session this week.
On Monday afternoon, Wilson introduced Senate Resolution 8690 on the floor of the chamber, which approved it unanimously. After approval, Senate President and Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck promptly called on four members of the Chinook Nation’s leadership in the gallery of the Senate to stand and be recognized.
Council Chair Tony “Naschio” Johnson, Vice Chairman Sam Robinson, Councilmember Gary Johnson and Culture Coordinator Mary Johnson stood together for recognition. The four made the trip to the Legislature to represent their tribe and also got to visit the floor of the state Senate.
SR 8690, as its title suggests, recognizes the contributions of the Chinook Indian Nation to the state of Washington. Wilson emphasized those contributions in his remarks before the chamber voted on the resolution. He spoke of the Chinook Tribe and its members as a positive example for all in the state of Washington.
Wilson also harkened back to the early days of the United States and the first contact by the Lewis and Clark expedition with the Chinook Tribe, stating “they were always noted for being kind and sharing.”
“Kind of like what we strive to be here on the Senate floor,” Wilson said.
The resolution itself recognizes portions of the Lower Columbia River as it nears the ocean and parts of the state's Pacific coastline within Southwest Washington as the ancestral homelands of the Chinook people. It also recognizes their role as skilled navigators and peaceful traders in the region, especially since the age of European exploration, during which they aided the Lewis and Clark expedition.
“The Chinook people have been a force for peace in the region, gaining influence through diplomacy and relationship building rather than through conflict, violence and conquest,” reads the resolution.
According to the Chinook Indian Nation’s website, the tribe is made up of five western Chinookan-speaking tribes that recognize the areas around the Columbia River in Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon as their ancestral homelands. These five tribes are the Willapa, the Lower Chinook, the Wahkiakum, the Kathlamet and the Clatsop.
Despite the Chinook nation being long recognized by locals and well documented in its presence in the area, it was only briefly a federally recognized tribe in the United States and currently does not have that status. The tribe was recognized as a sovereign nation by the Clinton administration in 2001 in the final weeks of the president's second term.
However, that recognition was rescinded by the George W. Bush administration.
According to the Chinook Indian Nation, lack of recognition means its people, which approved the nation's first constitution just over 100 years ago, miss out on housing, health care and educational opportunities afforded to many federally recognized tribes.
