Luna Reyna

Thank you! Thank you!

Congrats!

The Chinook are calling on U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington, and U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, and U.S. Reps. Marie Glusenkamp-Perez of Washington and Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon step up and support federal recognition that honors their sovereignty .

Read the full story for a fuller picture. I spoke with a few of the surrounding Native nations that support Chinook federal recognition that detail their shared histories and support.

“What I would say to any legislative delegation is, ‘Since when will you not introduce a bill because somebody’s opposed to it?” Chinook chairman Johnson said. “Somebody’s opposed to every piece of legislation that is passed in Congress, right?”

But Congresswoman Gluesenkamp Perez decided that wasn’t enough to push the legislation forward and “expressed the necessity of repairing and upholding multinational relations with others in Indian Country in order to proceed with the bill.”

The Chinook Indian Nation Restoration Act was supported by the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

“We’ve never left this place,” Johnson told Underscore + ICT. “This is where our sovereignty springs from. We literally use the words in our trading negotiations, ‘staying with the bones of our ancestors.’ We don’t use the word time immemorial because there is not a time we don’t remember.“

Recognition would also ensure that Chinookan children be kept with their people through the protections of the Indian Child Welfare Act and their ancestors’ dignified rest on their homelands through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

W/out federal recognition the Chinook can’t access federal services available through the BIA including health care, education, housing, economic development, & social services critical to healing from generational trauma caused by the American government and to surviving modern disasters.

Chinook Indian Nation Rejects Recognition Without Rights - Underscore Native News After decades of work toward federal recognition with Congresswoman Gluesenkamp Perez and surrounding tribes, the Chinook Indian Nation is calling on new legislative allies, following an amendment pro...

The Chinook Indian Nation is calling on new legislative allies, following a bill amendment proposed by Congresswoman Gluesenkamp Perez to the Chinook Indian Nation Restoration Act language that would strip all resource access rights from the nation.

www.underscore.news/justice/chin...

Olive Oshiro, disenrolled Nooksack citizen, died before the four-year legal battle with Nooksack Indian Tribe to keep her home of 24 yrs was over. April 1 Nooksack evicted the Oshiro fam but Oshiro may have owned her home in 2020 if there was proper oversight by the state Housing Finance Commission.

Thank you for sharing!

Work with Underscore - Underscore Native News Staff Jobs Freelance Opportunities Stay tuned for more information about pitching freelance stories to us.

✨2025 Underscore Indigenous Journalism Fellowship✨

Apply to be a fellow today and join us June through August in Portland, Oregon for an immersive 10-week internship! More information linked below.

The application deadline is March 20.

🔗: www.underscore.news/work-opportu...

Important reporting by my colleague @jarrette-werk.bsky.social for @underscore-news.bsky.social

Native Nations Mobilize Against ICE Targeting and Profiling - Underscore Native News Native Nations across Turtle Island are working to ensure their citizens’ safety amid widespread reports of Indigenous people being racially profiled, stopped, questioned, and mistakenly detained for ...

Native Nations across Turtle Island are working to ensure their citizens’ safety amid rising reports of Indigenous people being racially profiled, stopped, questioned, and mistakenly detained for undocumented immigrants.

📰: shorturl.at/JOlRj
✍️: Luna Reyna, UNN/ICT

Thanks Ryan! It’s been a long time coming. 😄

Aw, thanks so much Holly! 💛

Thanks for reading it! 🙌🏽

These are all stories from 2024. More to come from myself and colleagues this year. Miigwech for reading if you’ve made it this far! 😄🙌🏽

Indigenous Water Warriors Call for Global Solidarity Against Genocide - Underscore Native News Water Warriors made national news last month when they took to Puyallup tribal waters in a traditional Nisqually canoe calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, temporarily blocking a military ship. ...

Water Warriors made national news last month when they took to Puyallup tribal waters in a traditional Nisqually canoe calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, temporarily blocking a military ship. Their fight against oppression didn’t start or end there.

www.underscore.news/culture/indi...

Chinook Indian Nation Closer to Securing Ancestral Winter Village Land - Underscore Native News A Washington state task force voted to recommend the return of land at a former youth detention facility to the Chinook Indian Nation. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and the fiscal committees of the legis...

A WA state task force voted to recommend the return of land at a former youth detention facility to the Chinook Indian Nation. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and the fiscal committees of the legislature will review the task force report in June and make a decision.

www.underscore.news/land/chinook...

How Native Nations Forced Federal Investment in Salmon Reintroduction - Work above the Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams by the Upper Columbia United Tribes has proven that salmon will return home, pressuring the government to uphold obligations to Native nations. With f...

Work above the Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams by the Upper Columbia United Tribes has proven that salmon will return home, pressuring the government to uphold obligations to Native nations.

www.underscore.news/land/how-nat...

Quinault Indian Nation Wellness Courts Replace Punishment with Empowerment - Underscore Native News The Quinault Indian Nation’s court system focuses on individual healing from addiction, instead of criminalization and punishment.

The Quinault Indian Nation’s court system focuses on individual healing from addiction, instead of criminalization and punishment.
www.underscore.news/justice/quin...

Secrecy and Data Issues Impede Progress on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People - Underscore Native News Oregon grapples with limited transparency and data gaps, as unpublicized guidelines from the federal coordinator in Oregon on missing and murdered Indigenous people and inconsistent reporting from Ore...

Oregon grapples with limited transparency & data gaps, as unpublicized guidelines from the federal coordinator in OR on missing & murdered Indigenous people and inconsistent reporting from OR State Police hinder effective understanding & accountability for MMIP.
www.underscore.news/justice/secr...

A Yaqui Woman’s Disappearance in Portland Exposed Policing Flaws in MMIP Cases - Underscore Native News When Wilma Acosta, Pascua Yaqui, went missing, Portland police announced Acosta had “suicidal ideations,” despite repeated denials of that claim from Acosta’s family. Experts say such announcements ar...

When Wilma Acosta, Pascua Yaqui, went missing, Portland police announced Acosta had “suicidal ideations,” despite repeated denials of that claim from Acosta’s family. Experts say such announcements are harmful.

www.underscore.news/justice/a-ya...

Failed Federal Housing Commitments Leads to Evictions for Native Families - Underscore Native News In 2016, Nooksack Indian Tribe disenrolled 306 citizens. Nooksack leadership then worked to evict the disenrolled from their homes, homes the families claim they should own through a federal program m...

In 2016, Nooksack Indian Tribe disenrolled 306 citizens. Nooksack leadership then worked to evict the disenrolled from their homes, homes the families claim they should own through a federal program meant to create a pathway to homeownership.
www.underscore.news/justice/fail...

Building a Model for Gender Affirming Care at Cowlitz Indian Tribe - Underscore Native News The Cowlitz are working to maintain their traditional values for their Two-Spirit relatives by protecting and providing gender-affirming care for their gender-diverse citizens through the Health and H...

The Cowlitz are working to maintain their traditional values for their Two-Spirit relatives by protecting and providing gender-affirming care for their gender-diverse citizens through the Health and Human Services department.

www.underscore.news/justice/lgbt...

Transformative Art Supporting Indigenous Prisoners’ Rights - Underscore Native News A powerful collaboration between artist Louie Gong, Eighth Generation and Huy raises awareness for incarcerated Indigenous people, offering support through art and cultural advocacy, including a Never...

Here’s some of my recent work:
A collaboration between artist Louie Gong, Eighth Generation & Huy raises awareness for incarcerated Indigenous people, offering support through art & cultural advocacy.

www.underscore.news/culture/tran...

Before coming to Underscore Native News and ICT (formerly Indian Country Today) as the partner organizations’ Seattle-based Northwest Bureau Chief, I was Crosscut’s Indigenous Affairs Reporter, and my work has appeared in the South Seattle Emerald, Prism Reports, Talk Poverty and more.