Letter to Editor Regarding Federal Recognition of the Chinook Indian Nation

In chinuk-wawa and English

chinuk-wawa

saya anqati shawash-tilixam ɬaska miɬayt kʰapa uk iliʔi kʰanawi-rawnd qʰa uk imaɬ chaku-kʰanumakwst kʰapa saltsəqw. alta ɬaska miɬayt kʰapa qwinəm shawash-tilixam-iliʔi—kathlamet, lower chinook, willapa, wahkiakum, pi clatsop. kʰanawi-kʰanumakwst, chinuk-tilixam ɬaska. ukuk san, 3000 shawash-tilixam ɬaska. dret wik-ɬush pus wik shawash-la-pipa tilixam ɬaska. nsayka munk-t’səm yakwa pus wawa, skukum-kakwa: ɬush pus munk shawash-la-pipa tilixam ɬaska. wəx̣t, nsayka tiki wawa mayka pus ma munk-yeʔlan kʰapa uk pʰayt pus ɬaska chaku-kakwa. pus aɬqi kakwa, ayaq ɬaska iskam bastən-tayi-iliʔi dala uk dret ɬaska tiki pus ɬush-miɬayt.

English

From time immemorial indigenous peoples have lived in the lands around the mouth of the Columbia River. Today there are five tribes—Kathlamet, Lower Chinook, Willapa, Wahkiakum, and Clatsop—and together they make up the Chinook Indian Nation, with 3000 enrolled members. Reprehensibly, the US government does not give federal recognition to the Chinook Indian Nation. We write this letter to decry that wrong and to ask you to help the Chinook Indian Nation in their fight for federal recognition. Concretely, being federally recognized would provide their communities access to crucial federal funding.