1897: Yakima Jubilee’s over (for back-translation)
The north-central Washington state Salish chief known as Moses (1829-1899) was obviously talking Chinuk Wawa at the “Indian Jubilee” of 1897.
Image credit: Flickr
Various clues suggest he was talking Jargon. We know this chief spoke it. He didn’t use English much, if ever. The quoted speech echoes known, typical ways of speaking Chinuk Wawa.
Maybe you can back-translate what you see below into CW.
Have a look:
Moses …made a speech about as follows:
“I am glad to be with you today. I am
the great chief. This country is mine; it
belongs to me and my children. These
are my children (pointing to the assem-
bled siwashes). I am a friend of the
whites. My heart is in the right place.
The whites look down on the Indian and
the same way the Indian looks down on
the whites.”
— from “The Jubilee is Over”, in the Yakima (WA) Herald of October 7, 1897, page 1, column 6
