Early 1880s, Alaska: Skookum papers, skookum boards
In my understanding, “skookum papers“, a Chinuk Wawa expression, were 19th-century letters…
Monthly Archive: September, 2022
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1902: “Niga” in BC Chinooklish
A measure of how much Chinook Jargon had penetrated into British Columbia folks’ English by the turn of the century:
1920: Volleyball invitation in Tacoma
An overly enthusiastic translator a generation after the frontier era needs a fact-check…
1913: Chief Basil of Bonaparte speaks against Sir Richard McBride
Very precious words: A southern interior BC Salish chief’s speech against the government is quoted on the front page of the newspaper.
Reader challenge: Can we find a copy of the 1862 “Guide and History of Salmon River & Cariboo”?
A Chinook Jargon vocabulary previously unknown to us beckons from a faded 1862 newspaper published in a forgotten California gold rush town.
1894, Yakima: Hiyu hum humor
Today, some Chinook Jargon humor from eastern Washington on the cusp of the frontier period’s end…
1882: Klahowya Queen’s Papoose!
British Columbia has a history of greeting the royals in Chinuk Wawa.
1903: Annual clambake
Our old buddy, pioneer Judge Joseph A. Kuhn, strikes again…
Early frontier humor in the Nicola (BC)
Here’s a funny memory of one of the last known speakers of the Nicola Dene (Athabaskan) language, south of Kamloops, BC.
1914: Redmen plan a big pow wow; Kumtux?
To add to our voluminous “Improved Order of Red Men” files…