Blankenship, “The Early History of Thurston County” (Part 4)
And now, more lovely Chinook stuff from a book about early Settlers’ lives on southern Puget Sound.
Monthly Archive: May, 2023
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Pidgin English “allsame” in Chinuk Wawa
We’ve found Chinese Pidgin English-style “allsame” a couple times in Chinuk Wawa, as a synonym of kakwa.
1905: John McLoughlin’s old definition of “cultus” is a mystery for us
If we can assume the following quotation from the Hudsons Bay Company’s Dr. John McLoughlin (1784-1857) is genuine, where did the newspaper get it from?
Boas 1892: Many discoveries in a short article (Part 10: ‘to make’)
In his short but punchy 1892 article reporting newly noticed Chinuk Wawa words in the lower Columbia River region, Franz Boas says as basic an idea as ‘make’ has new expression…
1893: Gill vs. Hale, debating pre-contact Chinuk Wawa
(Image credit: Internet Archive) Too bad if you haven’t yet read JC Pilling’s 1893 “Bibliography of the Chinookan Languages” (it’s for free at that link).
1872: A Métis French word in Shoshoni
A word in the Shoshoni/Shoshone language (Uto-Aztecan family), spoken in western Utah, is almost correctly attributed to Chinuk Wawa.
Suquamish traditions
From a tribe quite close to modern Seattle, WA, come today’s picturesque bits of Chinuk Wawa.
Kamloops Wawa pictures, part 8: Sechelt village, BC
From a coastal town where Chinuk Pipa writing was popular…
Alaskan Haida bark-gathering song w/Chinook Jargon
A traditional Haida song for gathering the bark from young cedar trees uses Chinuk Wawa.
1889, BC: The boss potlach
It’s not difficult to find news articles about Native “potlatching” in the second half of the 1800s.