‘Do not let this crime happen’: Chinook Tribe fights for return of ‘neglected’ remains

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Bones and sacred objects of Chinook Indian Nation ancestors are left on museum shelves without a legal path for descendants to bring home or bury.

Chinook Indian Nation Chairman Tony Johnson told KOIN 6 News that his people have been forced to endure as the Chinook remain shut out of a Federal policy designed to return grave goods to their prospective tribes.

“A crime has been committed at the mouth of the Columbia River against our Indigenous people,” Johnson said. “We have existed here as the first people at the mouth of the Columbia River for 10,000 years. A new government comes in and they assert the right to be able to determine whether or not you even have access to your own ancestors.”

Johnson said his people were initially excited when the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) law was passed in 1990 — which requires museums, federal agencies, and institutions to return Native American remains, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony to descendants.

“It took some time to discover that Chinook was going to be neglected under that system,” he said.

Despite consistent involvement in repatriations, Johnson said changes to NAGPRA passed by the Biden administration, while well-intentioned, leave unrecognized tribes like the Chinook behind.

“The problem is the new rule says that culturally unaffiliated remains and grave goods are to be fast-tracked on their return,” Johnson said. “An institution can know these are Chinook Indian Nation ancestors or objects, but they cannot, because of the way the federal law is written, return them to a tribe that is not federally recognized.”

Having lived at the mouth of the Columbia River for thousands of years, the Chinook were federally recognized in 2001 — only to have the status revoked 18 months later by the Bush administration.

Since then, the Nation has been engaged in a decades-long fight to restore federal recognition.

“Chinook’s ancestors have sat on those shelves of museums and institutions, not culturally unaffiliated, but culturally unaffiliated with a federally recognized tribe,” Johnson said. “This will be one of the great crimes of this country, if the ancestors and grave goods are ultimately stolen off to some other place.”

He told KOIN 6 News that while neighboring tribes have aided their repatriation efforts, any federally recognized tribe can claim cultural affiliation and be in line to receive their items, as the Chinook remain legally barred from the process.

“There are tribes and particular or individual repatriation moments that have happened in the last year, where folks have made claims on objects or individuals that are clearly ours,” Johnson said. “And Chinook does not have the power to stop that.”

Johnson emphasized the need for Oregon and Washington delegations to introduce a recognition bill to enable the return of what rightfully belongs to the Chinook, calling for collective action to prevent the misappropriation of their ancestors’ remains.

He told KOIN 6 News the only answer his people will accept is federal recognition.

“Chinook’s history is very clear: We were forced for generations through the Indian boarding school system, we’ve been given allotments, we have blue cards to hunt and fish as Indians, this isn’t a question,” Johnson said. “If you want to wash away the stain of the Western Oregon Termination Act, you have to recognize Chinook.”

Johnson said senators in Oregon and Washington have an opportunity to not just prevent further issues regarding NAGPRA, but to fix a stain on Oregon’s history.

Johnson added, “We’re calling on our delegation, do not let this crime happen, where our ancestors are being returned elsewhere, or that we don’t have control over our very own ancestors’ bones and cultural and grave objects. Do the work to recognize Chinook now.”

KOIN 6 News reached out to Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, as well as Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, for a statement on NAGPRA.

A spokesperson with Wyden’s office shared the following statement: “Senator Wyden’s staff has met with Chinook officials and also consults with our Washington counterparts about the best path forward for these issues.”