Chinooks (chĭ'nookz'), a tribe of Indians who formerly lived on both banks of the Columbia River, broken into many bands. Their language differed somewhat among different bands, and was hard to pronounce. This led the traders to use what was called Chinook jargon, containing some Chinook words, togther with French, English and words from other Indian languages. There are only a handful of Chinooks left, who are on the Chehalis reservation in Washington.
