Chinookan peoples include several groups of indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Chinookan-speaking peoples reside along the Lower and Middle Columbia River from the river's gorge downstream to the river's mouth, and along adjacent portions of the coasts, from Tillamook Head of present-day Oregon in the south, north to Willapa Bay in southwest Washington. In 1805 the Lewis and Clark Expedition encountered the Chinook Tribe on the lower Columbia. There are several theories about where the name ″Chinook″ came from. Some say it is a Chehalis word Tsinúk for the inhabitants of and a particular village site on Baker Bay, or "Fish Eaters". It may also be a word meaning "strong fighters".
