As the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial signature event kicks off this weekend at various locations around the Lower Columbia, the Chinook Indian Nation is holding its own separate event.

Tribal leaders, unhappy over the involvement of what they see as a rival tribal group in the “Destination: The Pacific” commemoration, backed out of the event last year. The Chinook have agreed to take part only in those Bicentennial programs that don’t include the other group, the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes.

“For us to participate with them is a sign that we recognize them, and we won’t recognize them in any way,” said Chinook tribal council Chairman Gary Johnson.

The Chinook event, at the old Chinook School in Chinook, Wash., kicks off at 10 a.m. Friday with an honoring ceremony for Native American veterans, followed by a salmon dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The weekend will include traditional drumming, singing and storytelling, demonstrations of carving, basket-making, games and other cultural activities, and vendors. An exhibit from the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at Cape Disappointment State Park will be set up as well.

“We’ll be telling our story,” Johnson said.

On Saturday the tribe will host a copper ring ceremony for participants of a recent intertribal canoe paddle at Elwha, Wash.

The salmon dinner, offered each day beginning at 11:30 a.m., is free Friday and $11 for adults, $9 for seniors and $6 for kids 12 and under Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

The Chinook tribal council voted in early 2004 to back out of the “Destination” event, soon after Bicentennial organizers decided to include the Clatsop-Nehalems in the program. The Chinook argued the new Clatsop-Nehalem group was usurping their position as the sole “homeland” Indian tribe and rightful representative of the descendants of all five historic Lower Columbia tribes that hosted Lewis and Clark.

“It’s a frustration – we don’t feel these people in charge of the event should be recognizing a newly formed group,” Johnson said, noting that 500 Clatsops are enrolled members of the Chinook tribe.

The Clatsop-Nehalem tribe has a prominent role at Friday’s opening ceremony at Fort Stevens, which will be attended by Govs. Ted Kulongoski of Oregon and Christine Gregoire of Washington and feature a color guard of Native American veterans carrying the flags of almost two dozen tribes. Tribal chairman Joe Scovell will give a welcome and tribal member Dick Basch will perform a tribal blessing.

The Ocian in View lecture series also includes a presentation on the tribe’s history, offered Saturday and Monday at the Performing Arts Center in Astoria.

“I think they have every right to do that,” Scovell said of this weekend’s Chinook event. “That’s their show, and I hope they have a good time up there.”

The Clatsop-Nehalem group was officially formed four years ago, but Scovell, a resident of Turner, has pursued federal recognition for the group for several years. The group currently has about 100 enrolled members.

Though the Clatsops, who traded with Lewis and Clark during their winter stay at Fort Clatsop, are culturally linked to the Chinook, they were treated as a separate tribe by federal agents who negotiated treaties with coastal Indians in the 1850s, Scovell said.

“We’re looking forward to (the Bicentennial) as an opportunity to tell our story, and we’re thankful we have the opportunity,” he said.

The tribe will hold a ceremony and potlatch Friday afternoon at Rilea Armed Forces Training Center to celebrate the completion of a new 32-foot canoe.

“I’m sorry the Chinook will not be there, but I honor their decision,” said Jan Mitchell, chairwoman of the “Destination: The Pacific” committee. “I’m glad they’re going ahead and doing their own interpretation – we want their voice to be heard.”

In the beginning of the Bicentennial planning process, organizers weren’t aware there was a separate Clatsop tribe, Mitchell said. But after learning about Scovell’s efforts on behalf of the group, Destination planners decided, after input from Native American Bicentennial organizers, to invite the Clatsop-Nehalem group.

“We were selected by the National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial to do one of the 15 national signature events, and the contract said that we would be inclusive,” she said. “It was not appropriate for us to be saying who should and shouldn’t be at the table.”

The Chinook are taking part in some Bicentennial events, but only in programs where the Clatsops aren’t involved – most notably the Corps of Discovery II traveling exhibit, set up this week in Long Beach, Wash. Along with a display of a Chinook canoe, several tribal members are presenting talks in the Tent of Many Voices on the tribe’s history and its struggle for federal recognition.