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Chinookan peoples include several groups of indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States speaking the Chinookan languages. In the early 19th century, the Chinookan-speaking peoples resided along the lower and middle Columbia River but in present-day Oregon and Washington. The Chinook tribes were those encountered by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 on the lower Columbia.〔The term "Chinook" also has a wider meaning in reference to the Chinook Jargon, which is based on Chinookan languages, in part, and so the term "Chinookan" was coined by linguists to distinguish the older language from its offspring, the Jargon.〕 Since the late 20th century, the Chinook Indian Nation, made up of 2700 members of several peoples, has worked to obtain federal recognition. It gained this in 2001 but, after President George W. Bush took office, his political appointees revoked that status in 2002. The tribe continues to seek recognition.〔 ==Historic culture== The Chinookan peoples were not nomadic but rather occupied traditional tribal geographic areas. They had a form of society marked by social stratification consisting of a number of distinct social castes of greater or lesser status.〔Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown, ''Indian Slavery in the Pacific Northwest.'' Spokane, WA: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1993; pg. 42.〕 Upper castes included shamans, warriors, and successful traders, and were a minority of the community population compared to common members of the tribal group.〔 Members of the superior castes are said to have practiced social isolation, limiting contact with commoners and forbidding play between the children of the different social groups.〔Ruby and Brown, ''Indian Slavery in the Pacific Northwest,'' pg. 43.〕 Some Chinookan peoples practiced slavery, a practice borrowed from the northernmost tribes of the Pacific Northwest.〔Ruby and Brown, ''Indian Slavery in the Pacific Northwest,'' pg. 39.〕 They encouraged their slaves, taken as captives in warfare, to practice thievery on behalf of their masters. The latter refrained from such practices as unworthy of high status.〔 At birth some Chinookan tribes would flatten children's heads by binding them under pressure between boards, a process said to have been initiated when the infant was about 3 months old and to have continued until the child was about one year of age.〔Ruby and Brown, ''Indian Slavery in the Pacific Northwest,'' pg. 47.〕 This served as a means of marking social hierarchy; flat-headed community members were ranked above those with round heads. Those with flattened and deformed skulls refused to enslave other individuals who were similarly marked, thereby reinforcing the association of a round head with servility.〔 The Chinook were known colloquially by early white explorers in the region as "Flathead Indians." Living near the coast of the Pacific Ocean, they were skilled elk hunters and fishermen. The most popular fish was salmon. Owing partly to their settled living patterns, the Chinook and other coastal tribes had relatively little conflict over land as they did not migrate through each other's territories. In the manner of numerous settled tribes, they resided in long houses. More than fifty people, related through extended kinship, often resided in one long house. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chinookan peoples」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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