in trade, before and during early European contact (Lewis & Clark), hence developed the Chinook Jargon – a pre-European contact language, with lexicon from at least Chinook, Chehalis, and Nootka or Nuu-chah-nulth. Chinook people were quickly diminished by European diseases: Numbered around 800 persons in 1800; they mixed with Chehalis (in fact, the very word Chinook is a Chehalis word for those who lived on the south of the river). Most of the language family became extinct as separate groups by 1900, except a few hundreds who mixed with other groups. Around 120 people in 1945, though some 609 were reported in the 1970s, having by then mixed extensively with other groups. Language is now extinct. Chinook Jargon also flourished from 1790s–1830s, then experienced a flood of English and French new vocabulary. It was used by up to 100,000 speakers of 100 mother tongues in the 19th century. Then declined, was recorded by linguists in the 1930s, and died out by the early 1900s. The Chinook people were finally recognized by the US Govt. in Jan. 2001, but in the 90-day grace period the Quinault Tribe filed an appeal stating that the Chinook Nation made mistakes when applying for federal recognition. See also Chinook jargon References Bibliography Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (hbk); . Further reading Suttles, Wayne (1990). Handbook of North American Indians: Northwest Coast. Smithsonian Institution Washington. p. 533 George Gibbs, Alphabetical Vocabulary of the Chinook Language, New York : Cramoisy Press, 1863. External links Aaron Clark, "Tribes strive to save native tongues (Wasco tribe's Kiksht language)", Christian Science Monitor, 23 May 2008 Language families Languages Penutian languages Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast Indigenous languages of the North American Plateau Languages of the United States Endangered indigenous languages of the Americas