Monthly Archive: December, 2019

Brush Indians & “stick Siwash”

Just a quick note today, showing you a rare synonym of “Stick Indians”, and the earliest occurrence of the latter.

1901: Martha Douglas Harris’s “Chee-chee-ka” (Part 2)

Now we get into the guts of it…

Historical Sketches of the Catholic Church in Oregon [Territory]

I’ve been learning about pretty early Chinook Jargon history from an eyewitness’s book…

1874, BC: What do you call an Indian commissioner in Jargon?

How to talk about a high government official such as Israel Wood Powell (1837-1915) in frontier times?

1898: Chinuk Wawa in a Stó:lō hymn book (part 1)

One of the themes I develop in this website is that THERE’S A LOT MORE excellent Chinook Jargon out there to learn from, if you look past the usual sources.

1912: “Tolneuch” by J. Chester Fox

“TOLNEUCH”: This piece in a very popular magazine takes its name from a word in James G. Swan’s bestselling 1857 memoir of life on Shoalwater Bay, Washington Territory.

Early 1850s: ‘Christmas’ & ‘eat crow’ humor on Shoalwater Bay

James Gilchrist Swan, early pioneer on Shoalwater Bay, Washington Territory (near Astoria), spoke excellent Chinuk Wawa & could repeat a good joke…

Is “rancherie” a gold rush word?

In English, it’s primarily a Canadianism of a certain age.

Noses, Salish metaphors, & French rarities

I’ve got two things on my nose, er, mind.

More of Bonnycastle Dale’s Chinook Jargon

When the first word in a short article is an offensive use of a Chinuk Wawa word, I’m already skeptical…