{"product_id":"the-chinook-indians-traders-of-the-lower-columbia-river-civilization-of-the-american-indian-paperback","title":"The Chinook Indians: Traders of the Lower Columbia River (Civilization of the American Indian (Paperback))","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Chinook Indians  who originally lived at the mouth of the Columbia River in present-day Oregon and Washington  were experienced traders long before the arrival of white men to that area. When Captain Robert Gray in the ship Columbia Rediviva  for which the river was named  entered the Columbia in 1792  he found the Chinooks in an important position in the trade system between inland Indians and those of the Northwest Coast. The system was based on a small seashell  the dentalium  as the principal medium of exchange. The Chinooks traded in such items as sea otter furs  elkskin armor which could withstand arrows  seagoing canoes hollowed from the trunks of giant trees  and slaves captured from other tribes. Chinook women held equal status with the men in the trade  and in fact the women were preferred as traders by many later ships captains  who often feared and distrusted the Indian men. The Chinooks welcomed white men not only for the new trade goods they brought  but also for the new outlets they provided Chinook goods  which reached Vancouver Island and as far north as Alaska. The trade was advantageous for the white men  too  for British and American ships that carried sea otter furs from the Northwest Coast to China often realized enormous profits. Although the first white men in the trade were seamen  land-based traders set up posts on the Columbia not long after American explorers Lewis and Clark blazed the trail from the United States to the Pacific Northwest in 1805.John Jacob Astors men founded the first successful white trading post at Fort Astoria  the site of todays Astoria  Oregon  and the North West Company and the Hudsons Bay Company soon followed into the territory. As more white men moved into the area  the Chinooks began to lose their favored position as middlemen in the trade. Alcohol; new diseases such as smallpox  influenza  and venereal disease; intertribal warfare; and the growing number of white settlers soon led to the near extinction of the Chinooks. By 1\u0026amp;51  when the first treaty was made between them and the United States government  they were living in small  fragmented bands scattered throughout the territory. Today the Chinook Indians are working to revive their tribal traditions and history and to establish a new tribal economy within the white mans system.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44986230833205,"sku":"ByrdShop_0806121076","price":49.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780806121079.jpg?v=1770893415","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-chinook-indians-traders-of-the-lower-columbia-river-civilization-of-the-american-indian-paperback","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}