1858, Oregon and BC: Dictionaries are a humbug! Learn Jargon from the “abergoines”!
Here’s one of the earliest mentions of Chinook Jargon being in use in British Columbia…
…and the reason for this is, it was hardly spoken in BC until the 1858+ Fraser River gold rush.
Also tremendously valuable here is the assertion by knowledgeable parties that the only good way to learn the sounds of Chinuk Wawa is by talking with Indigenous people.
A case is clearly being made that the standard of good Jargon is Native style.
Of course, in BC, you couldn’t very well do that in 1858…you see.
“Educated Chinooks” in the following is typical Settler talk for “fluent Indigenous people” of any tribal affiliation.
Abergoines, for contrast, is normal 1800s USA humor, mispronouncing a “big word”, aborigines, on purpose.
THE OREGON JARGON — The S. F. Globe and
Bulletin, have each published a vocabulary of
the Oregon Jargon, for the benefit of Frazer [Fraser]
river emigrants — that being a kind of universal
language among the races that inhabit Oregon
and Washington Territories. An intimate ac-
quaintance with that highly refined and elegant
lingo, acquired during a long residence in Ore-
gon, enables us to state that the above mentioned
vocabularies will be of no service whatever to
persons desirous of learning the “Chinook wa-
wa.” No combination of the letters of the Ro-
man alphabet can give an American an idea of
the proper pronunciation of the words. A man
of ordinary capacity, however, can acquire a
perfect knowledge of the “language” in a few
days, by conversing with educated Chinooks. —
Nevada Democrat.All the “jargon dictionaries” we have seen
are a humbug. That ornate language can
only be accurately learned by communica-
tion with the abergoines.
— from the Oregon City (Oregon Territory) Oregon Statesman of July 20, 1858, page 2, column 6
Bonus fact:
Here’s some additional sighting of abergoines for you:
The stories in-
creased with each repetition until some
fancied they could see the flames of burn-
ing buildings, and hear the yells of the
“abergoines.”
From Iowa Territory, circa 1840:
And this reminds me of an anecdote which created a good deal of laugh-
ter from time to time in the Second Territorial Council when an honorable
member (Mr. Hawkins) whenever speaking of the aborigines (which word
he used instead of Indians) would always pronounce it abergoines and no
effort of his fellow members could educate him into a better pronunciation.
