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English not British
In his July 5, 2006 hit piece, Casino would sour our sweet county, editor emeritus Tom Koenninger wrote that Clark County "was Chinook territory, home of the Chinookan people."
Historians tell us Clark was Chinook territory, home of the Chinookan people who inhabited places such as Cathlapotle and other villages on the lower Columbia River.—Casino would sour our sweet county, by Tom Koenninger, Editor Emeritus, The Vancouver Columbian, July 5, 2006
Historians have written about the Chinookan people in this region, but to equate "Chinookan" with Chinook is like equating "English" with British.
While "English" is used informally to refer to the British most people today understand that it is the name of a language not a people and that "English-speaking nation" doesn't necessarily mean Great Britain.
Chinookan is a linguistic classification that refers to several variants of a root language. To describe a tribe as Chinookan no more makes that tribe Chinook than English makes a nation British.
Moreover, the word "Chinook" is not even a Chinook word. It is derived from Tsinúk, which is what the Chehalis called them.
Some sources claim that Tsinúk is the Salish word for the wind that is a "snow eater." Colorful, but it seems more likely that Tsinúk was a generic Salish term for a warm wind and the Chehalis referred to a particular Chinook encampment by that name because of a distinctive wind that blew from its direction.
Error intentional?
Humorous etymology aside, the sad truth is that Koenninger probably knows the truth about Chinookan and lied about it intentionally. Why would he do that? Because The Columbian has stooped to yellow journalism in their efforts to slime the Tribe by July 14th.
July 14th is when comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Cowlitz Casino and Resort are due to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Why should Koenninger know better? Because representatives of our tribe have explained the distinction many times during the past year. But truth matters little to The Vancouver Columbian, at least where the Cowlitz Indian Tribe is concerned.
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