Conversations with Khatsahlano
For an amazing document of late frontier life around Vancouver, BC, as known by a Skwxwú7mesh elder, I say you simply can’t top this book.
For an amazing document of late frontier life around Vancouver, BC, as known by a Skwxwú7mesh elder, I say you simply can’t top this book.
Edited 11/09/2017 to add: read the Comments to see why my readers are a priceless resource. It turns out we’ve found the most southerly occurrence of one obscure Chinuk Wawa word! Ironically, today’s… Continue reading →
Look what turned up in my net! Some brief but vivid notes about Chinook Jargon as used in Washington Territory’s Makah Indians, 1880.
More than half a century into the reservation era, Chinuk Wawa had quite a presence at the major interethnic social event of the year for Siletz, Oregon.
No less formidable a figure than Dr William Fraser Tolmie once wrote to his local newspaper urging (as I understand him) that Indian reservations be Christian missions. To establish his credentials in that… Continue reading →
My specialty lately seems to be finding the metaphors that gave us various Chinuk Wawa expressions. Today’s comes with etymological baggage that I think you’ll love…
Chinook Jargon was never a very big deal in northwestern California, but it has made an impact.
(Image credit: ChinaDaily.com.cn) Regular readers of my site probably recall a remarkable old Chinuk Wawa article showing how to count in southern Chinese. (See “Shaina Man Mamuk Kansih Kakwa“.)
talʹ-is ‘dear (beloved)’ is a word that caught my attention in JK Gill’s 1909 dictionary of Chinook Jargon. Because it’s completely mysterious.