What is Chinook?
Many are wandering why the company was named Chinook and what it means.
Explanation
Chinook is a type of wind that is very characteristic of Alberta, Canadian western province. It is warm and dry air mass that descends the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mts. after having lost moisture by condensation over the western slopes. Chinooks occur mainly in winter. They sometimes replace the cold continental air mass over the western plains, causing rapid melting of snow and temperature increases as great as 40°F (22°C) within a few hours. The term chinook was originally applied by Oregon settlers to a moist Pacific wind blowing from the direction of a Chinook camp.
One of the most striking features of the chinook is the chinook arch, which is a band of stationary stratus clouds caused by air rippling over the mountains due to orographic lifting. To those unfamiliar with the chinook, the chinook arch may look like a threatening storm cloud at times. However, they rarely produce rain or snow. They can also create stunning sunrises and sunsets.
The stunning colors seen in the chinook arch are quite common. Typically the colors will change throughout the day, starting with yellow, orange, red and pink shades in the morning as the sun comes up, gray shades in the mid day changing to pink/red colors, and then orange/yellow hues just before the sun sets.
Reason
Our company works very closely with Winding River Solutions Inc., a consulting company from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and this wind is very characteristic of Alberta.
The idea was to name company that would have power and ability to change the "climate" in our clients companies. We believe that, with our help, our clients can raise the productivity level as this wind raises the temperature during winter. Also, the power that this wind has to change the clouds in the sky represents our power in areas of consulting and cares for our clients.
The Chinook Indians - tribe of Chinookan linguistic stock, lived in villages on the embankments of the Columbia River, from British Columbia, Canada to Eastern Washington State, all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
They were peaceful people whose livelihood revolved around fishing, mostly salmon, and trading in good ranging from fur, to fish, to slaves.
The Chinook were a hedonistic society with a penchant for entertainment and leisure; their villages were comprised mostly of their own relatives. They would not easily give in to violent behavior, opting instead for challenging ritual events to resolve conflicts.
The Chinook language gave way to the Chinook Jargon, which would end up being used by traders from the Yukon to California.
Today, the last descendants of Chinook origin live on reservations in Washington and Oregon. There are currently over two thousand registered members of the Chinook Nation and hundreds more applying for membership. Their legacy is that of a placid, thriving society; never to fully reveal its complex culture and mythology save for a few scattered texts, artifacts and images.