The Columbia River Estuary is situated on the Oregon–Washington border and the Pacific Coast of the United States. It was traditionally inhabited by the Chinook Native Americans and discovered by settlers in 1788. The Estuary plays host to a plethora of species of marine and terrestrial flora and fauna, and multiple conservation organisations exist that maintain the area. Geologically, it is situated on a continental margin of the North American Plate. The extent of the Columbia River Estuary Geographically, the Estuary of the Columbia River is defined as extending inland as far as the Bonneville Dam. It is the furthest point at which fluctuation of free-flowing water levels based on tide is substantial enough to be recorded. First Nation Peoples The Columbia River (Chinookan: hayásh-tsəqʷ, meaning “great water”) was a bustling hub of trade for Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest for centuries. In fact, archaeological evidence has proven that humans have inhabited the area for around 10 000 years. Today, the traditional owners and first people of the Columbia River Estuary are the Chinook Native Americans, who occupied a large stretch of the Northern shore. The Chinookans were a prosperous people whose economy revolved predominantly around the trade of salmon during the summer months. They were known for their fishing technique called seining, in which a weighted net was dragged into the river and pulled back to shore, trapping salmon. Additionally, the tribes relied on local fauna during the winter months, when they would move to winter villages along the Columbia's tributaries: namely game, fowl and local flora. Mythology: creation of the Estuary Before men existed and the animal people ruled, the huge beaver, Wishpoosh, who lived in the Keechelus Lake, would take and destroy lesser creatures. Eventually the coyote god (of the Columbia region), Speelyei, stood up to him to reign in his behaviour. However, this dissatisfied Wishpoosh and in his fury he burst the banks of the lake, which flooded the adjacent canyon and formed a new great lake, in the Kittitas Valley. The fight continued, and the edges of this new lake held strong, but the wrath of Wishpoosh was such that they eventually gave way as well, and the area around Yakima, WA was flooded. Wishpoosh and Speelyei fought on, until the new lake extended West all the way to the junction of the Yakima, Snake and Columbia Rivers, which had for a long time