The Chehalis people are a native people of western
Washington state in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. They should not be confused with the similarly named Chehalis First Nation

Chehalis First Nation

The Chehalis First Nation or Chehalis Indian Band is the band government of the Sts'Ailes people, whose territories lie between Deroche and Agassiz, British Columbia...

 of the Harrison River

Harrison River

The Harrison River is a short but large tributary of the Fraser River, entering it near the community of Chehalis, British Columbia. The Harrison drains Harrison Lake and is the de facto continuation of the Lillooet River, which feeds the lake....

 in the Fraser Valley

Fraser Valley

The Fraser Valley is the section of the Fraser River basin in southwestern British Columbia downstream of the Fraser Canyon. The term is sometimes used to refer to the Fraser Canyon and stretches upstream from there, but in general British Columbian usage of the term refers to the stretch of the...

 area of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

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The Chehalis of Washington consists of two divisions: The Upper Chehalis and the Lower Chehalis. Within these were several tribes: the Copalis, Wynoochee and Humptulips people were part of the Lower Chehalis, while the Satsop people were part of the Upper Chehalis. The boundary between the two groups was the confluence of the Chehalis River and Satsop River

Satsop River

The Satsop River is a stream in the U.S. state of Washington. It has three main tributary forks, the East Fork, West Fork, and Middle Fork Satsop Rivers. The main stem Satsop River is formed by the confluence of the West and East Forks. The Middle Fork is a tributary of the East Fork...

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The Chehalis language belongs to the Coast Salish family of languages among Northwest Coast indigenous peoples.

Like many Northwest Coast natives, the Chehalis relied on fishing from local rivers for food and built plank houses (longhouses) to protect themselves from the harsh, wet winters west of the Cascade Mountains

Cascade Range

The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...

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The Chehalis people settled on their current Chehalis Indian Reservation along the Chehalis River in 1860. The reservation has a land area of 18.188 km² (7.022 sq mi) in southeastern Grays Harbor

Grays Harbor County, Washington

Grays Harbor County is a county in the state of Washington, in the United States of America. As of 2010, the population was 72,797. The county seat is at Montesano, and its largest city is Aberdeen. The county is named after a large estuarine bay near its southwestern corner...

 and southwestern Thurston Counties. As of the 2000 census

United States Census, 2000

The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

 its resident population was 691 persons. The major communities within the reservation are Chehalis Village

Chehalis Village, Washington

Chehalis Village is a census-designated place in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 346 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Chehalis Village is located at ....

 and part of the city of Oakville

Oakville, Washington

Oakville is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 684 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Oakville is located at ....

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