Twenty-three acres of ancestral homeland in Southeast Washington, formerly home to a juvenile detention facility, will soon be returned to the Chinook Indian Nation.
That’s based on the April 25 vote by a Washington State Office of Financial Management task force that met in July to decide what to do with the country. The Naselle Youth Camp was closed in 2022 and has been empty since then. The task force selected Chinook’s proposal from thirty others.
In their proposal, the Chinook Indian Nation said they would use the land for government office space, archive storage and space for cultural classes. Underline News + ICT reports from a task force meeting in March.
The Chinook Indian Nation consists of the five westernmost Chinookan-speaking tribes at the mouth of the Columbia River. The tribe was federally recognized by the Clinton administration in 2001. Eighteen months later, however, the federal government rescinded the decision after another Washington tribe protested that recognition.
“[The vote] feels like something for the history books and something our descendants will look back on as an incredibly important moment,” said Tony Johnson, Chairman of the Chinook Indian Nation. Underline News + ICT.
The land transfer stemmed from a bill introduced by Senator Jeff Wilson in January 2023 that would require the transfer of the property to the Chinook Indian Nation. But the bill never received a hearing, and Wilson instead added a budget proviso to this year’s legislative budget proposal for a task force to make recommendations on the future of the Naselle property and facilities.
About the Author: “Native News Online is one of the most widely read publications covering Indian Country and the news important to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Native peoples. Contact us at editor@nativenewsonline.net.”
Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net
