1879, Alaska: “Frozen Jokes”
Back when Alaskan newspapers existed only in California, someone was unfamiliar with the pronunciation of “Yakima” & with Chinuk Wawa.
Back when Alaskan newspapers existed only in California, someone was unfamiliar with the pronunciation of “Yakima” & with Chinuk Wawa.
Many thanks to David Gene Lewis PhD for his phenomenal research, presented over the years on his website, The Quartux Journal.
Today’s report is very data-heavy, so it will be valuable for research into the Canadian “residential schools”, and for genealogy.
Chinook Jargon is the only living descendant of “Nootka Jargon”.
The north-central Washington state Salish chief known as Moses (1829-1899) was obviously talking Chinuk Wawa at the “Indian Jubilee” of 1897.
Something that often comes up in the old Chinook newspaper is an ability to see what’s funny in a negative experience.
The action here takes place at the Duwamish Tribe’s temporary place of exile, Seattle’s Ballast Island. “Indian Camp on Ballast Island” (image credit: Duwamish Tribe) (Ballast Island is not to be confused with Ballard.)… Continue reading →
Explaining new religious ideas to Native people involved trying to use their languages…
The Chinook Jargon in the post-frontier article from southern interior BC didn’t need to be translated to be understood.