The bands and tribes that make up the present day Chehalis Tribe include the Upper Chehalis, Lower Chehalis, Cowlitz, Satsop, and Qwalioqua. These bands lived in, hunted and fished from the headwaters of the Chehalis River to Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay and from the area of Olympia on the north, down to the Cowlitz River and its environs in the south.

The Chehalis Tribe’s Reservation was created in 1864 at the confluence of the Chehalis and Black Rivers.

The Chehalis Tribe is governed by a Constitution. The elected Business Committee members govern the Reservation and all trust lands belonging to the Tribes members. This body, the equivalent of a tribal council at other reservations consists of the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and Fifth Council member of the Tribe.