The Clatsop (in the original language, La t cap, meaning "placed of dried salmon) (Lā'k!ēlak, 'dried Salmon', F. Boas) are a small tribe of Chinookan-speaking Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. In the early 19th century they inhabited an area of the northwestern coast of present-day Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia River south to Tillamook Head. The tribe has no formal recognition today and has struggled in recent years to retain its identity. Some of the remaining members now form an unofficial confederation with the Salishan-speaking Nehalem (Tillamook) tribe that once inhabited the area around Tillamook Bay. Other Clatsop descendants continue to maintain their culture and ceremonies as family and small community units, as in the past (Interview with Jeff Painter, 2001). The tribe has never been organized heirarchically (under "chiefs") but individual families affiliated with one another in small villages and seasonal camps located near food sources. [1] and [2] The Chinook or King Salmon is the largest salmon in North America and can grow up to 58 long and 126 pounds. ... Interior of a Chinookan plankhouse in the 1850s Chinookan refers to several groups of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... Darker red states are always part of the Pacific Northwest. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... State nickname: Beaver State Other U.S. States Capital Salem Largest city Portland Governor Ted Kulongoski (D) Official languages None Area 255,026 km² (9th)  - Land 248,849 km²  - Water 6,177 km² (2. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Tillamook Head (455630 N, 1235720 W) is a high promontory on the Pacific coast of northwest Oregon in the United States. ... The Salishan languages are a group of languages of western Canada and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ... Tillamook Bay on the Oregon Coast Tillamook Bay is a small inlet of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 6 mi (10 km) long and 2 mi (3 km) wide, on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Oregon. ...

The Clatsop dialect used by the tribe is a nearly-extinct dialect of the Lower Chinookan language, a language in the Oregon Penutian family. Most Clatsops were speaking the Chinook jargon and some spoke a dialect of Nehalem, by the time Lewis and Clark made contact with them (J.R. Holton, Chinook Wawa, 2004). The Chinook jargon, a trade language, is still used throughout much of the Northwest. Many place names in the area come from the Chinook jargon (e.g., Neakahnie Mountain - "The Mountain", Ecola Creek and Park - "whale"). Oregon Penutian is a language family in the Penutian language phylum comprising languages spoken at one time by several groups of Native Americans in present-day western Oregon and western Washington in the United States. ...

History

The tribe was encountered at the mouth of the Columbia in 1805 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The expedition named their last encampment Fort Clatsop after the tribe, whose nearest village was approximately 7 mi (12 km) away. The tribe later gave its name to Clatsop County, Oregon. According to the journals of William Clark, the Clatsop comprised about 200 people living in three separate villages of large cedar-plank houses. Clatsop members regularly visited the fort for trading purposes. The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806) was the first United States overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back. ... Fort Clatsop Fort Clatsop was the encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Oregon Country near the mouth of the Columbia River during the winter of 1805-1806. ... Clatsop County is a county located in the state of Oregon. ... William Clark (August 1, 1770 - September 1, 1838) was an explorer who accompanied Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. ...

The Clatsop shared salmon, berries, and hunting tips with the Corps of Discovery. In contrast to the Corps' interactions with the Plains Indians the previous winter, their interaction with the Clatsop was more limited. The two groups did not mingle for social occasions and the fort was opened to trading only 24 days during the winter. Part of the reason may have been the existing relationship between the British and the coastal Chinook tribes, resulting in a demand by the Chinook for higher prices for their goods at a time when the Corps' supply of "Indian Gifts" had dwindled. Only two Clatsop, named Coboway and Cuscalar, appear regularly in the members' journals.

In an 1851 treaty, the Clatsop tribe ceded 90 percent of their land to the U.S. government. This treaty was one of many in the Northwest that were never ratified by Congress. Unlike other tribes, the members were not required to move to a reservation. In fact, they were the only tribe in Oregon that was not removed to a reservation (A. Dart, Rolls of Certain Tribes in Oregon and Washington, Ye Galleon Press). 1852 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

The 200 members who have recently organized as the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederation have an average age of 65 and are scattered across Oregon and southwestern Washington. The last known speaker of the Tillamook language died in 1972. The Clatsop-Nehalem applied for membership in both the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde but were turned down. In January 2001, the Chinook tribe (of which the Clatsop were included) gained official recognition, but it was reversed by the Bush admninstration soon after taking office. The bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 2004 has provided renewed interest in the status of the Clatsop and Chinook. State nickname: The Evergreen State Other U.S. States Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Governor Christine Gregoire (D) Official languages None Area 184,824 km² (18th)  - Land 172,587 km²  - Water 12,237 km² (6. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey 2001 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An anniversary is a day that commemorates an event that occurred on the same day of the year some time in the past. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Tillamook County Pioneer Museum in Tillamook contains exhibits on the history of the Clatsop. The Clatsop-Nehalem have secured 20 acres (8 hectares) of oceanfront property in Tillamook County where they hope to build a longhouse from cedar planks to serve as a headquarters and museum. Clatsop spiritual leaders continue to hold ceremonial gatherings at Saddle Mountain (the place of their "birth" according to oral history), burial and funerary sites, vision quest sites ("tomanowas"), former village sites (like Necotat and Quatat), hunting & gathering sites, and places of historical importance (Interview with Jeff Painter, 2001). Tillamook is the county seat of Tillamook County, Oregon. ... Tillamook County is a county located in the state of Oregon. ... In archaeology and anthropology, a long house or longhouse is a type of long, narrow single room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe and North America. ...

External links

• Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes
• University of Missouri-St. Louis: Clatsop tribe