The Chilula were an Athapaskan tribe who inhabited the area on or near lower Redwood Creek, in Northern California, some 500 to 600 years before contact with Europeans. The Chilula have since been incorporated into the Hoopa tribe and live mainly on the Hoopa Reservation.
The tribes originally had 18 villages: Howunakut, Noleding, Tlochime, Kingkyolai, Kingyukyomunga, Yisining'aikut, Tsinsilading, Tondinunding, Yinukanomitseding, Hontetlme, Tlocheke, Hlichuhwinauhwding, Kailuhwtahding, Kailuhwchengetlding, Sikingchwungmitahding, Kinahontahding, Misme, and Kahustahding.
A 205' Cherokee-class US Navy oceangoing tugboat was christened the USS Chilula (ATF-153) in 1945, and recommissioned in 1958 as the United States Coast Guard Cutter Chilula (WMEC-153), serving until 1991.