Chinook is a Native American nation of the Pacific Northwest, which inhabited the lower Columbia River valley in what is now Washington and Oregon. Chinook comprise the Clatsop, Cathlamet, Multnomah, Watlala, Clowwewalla, Clackamas, Chilluckittequa and Wasco tribes
Coastal Chinook and Upper Chinook are extinct languages spoken by Chinook peoples. The Chinook Jargon is a form of that language, technically known as a pidgin or contact language, which evolved to allow the inhabitants of the Columbia River region to discuss business. This jargon was adopted by various newcomers (e.g., Chinese immigrants), who used it throughout the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, and contributed a number of words to local American English dialects (e.g. snookum, high muckimuck).
The Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is Alaska's state fish and is native to the Pacific coast of North America.
Chinook winds are warm, dry, usually irregularly occurring katabatic winds, similar to Alpine foehn winds, that come down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains into the plains of North America. The air has been stripped of its moisture due to precipitation, releasing heat as it rises and cools, then has been warmed by increasing density as it descends. The wind is named after the Chinook people. See Effects of Chinooks on weather ecology and agriculture in Alberta, Canada.