Temperance pledge, Stó:lō style (1893)
The other day in this blog I mentioned the epidemic of alcoholism in Indian country that we get a number of close glimpses into via the Kamloops Wawa newspaper. Under the influence of… Continue reading
The other day in this blog I mentioned the epidemic of alcoholism in Indian country that we get a number of close glimpses into via the Kamloops Wawa newspaper. Under the influence of… Continue reading
The 1890s were a transitional time in the southern BC interior. Many Aboriginal people had been married in the old traditional way. Missionary priests were promoting Catholic marriage. Sometimes, a person would postpone… Continue reading
The sequel to my post yesterday continues Father Le Jeune’s rant against White cynicism. Again, look closely. The differences between what Le Jeune writes in English (pretty civilly) and his Chinook Jargon (translated… Continue reading
A racist Catch-22. Paraphrased: The only good Indian is one who you turn into a White person. The only easy way to acculturate the Indians is to use Chinook Jargon. Chinook Jargon is… Continue reading
I’m not intentionally connecting alcoholism with the introduction of literacy to people who had never known it, but you’ll often find the two subjects cheek-by-jowl in the letters of the Oblate missionary priests. One… Continue reading
Short post: “Nawitika” there is a “hymn” pronunciation of Chinuk Wawa. It amounts to throwing extra vowels in. This breaks up some of the consonant clusters that are harder (for European missionaries) to… Continue reading
Which Chinese language is this? “The Chinese count like this:” (Kamloops Wawa issue #31, 19 June 1892, page 122) Shaina man mamuk kansih kakwa, <1.> iit <6> lawk ∫ Sondi lat bai… Continue reading
Eugène Duflot de Mofras authored another of the French-language sources that are less well-known in the Pacific Northwest, but very valuable for researching our history. It’s his 1844 book “Exploration du territoire de l’Orégon, de… Continue reading
[Edited 04/23/16 as I learned more about mules and donkeys.] Not to be an ass, but here’s the spoiler: an interesting word for “mule” gets used in the Kamloops Wawa‘s first telling of the… Continue reading
Nous avons vu, entre les mains d’un Père Jésuite de Saint-Paul, un dictionnaire manuscrit assez volumineux sur la langue Tchinook, qu’il s’était, pendant quinze années, donné la fastidieuse peine de rédiger pour l’usage… Continue reading