1898, Portland, OR: Red Men banqueted!
The printed menu of an Improved Order of Red Men (a Settler club) banquet in post-frontier Oregon was titled in Chinook Jargon…
The newspaper reporting this didn’t feel a need to translate it.
Red Men Banqueted.
PORTLAND, July 27. — Baum & Bran-
des’ restaurant was the scene of jollity
last night, the occasion being a ban-
quet given the members of the grand
council I. O. R. M. under the auspices
of the Minnehaha Association. The
bill of fare was unique and bore the
inscription, “Chahko Hiyu Mucka-
muck, Minnehaha Hyiu Tilikum.”
— from the Dalles (OR) Times-Mountaineer of July 30, 1898, page 2, column 5
That isn’t terribly good Jargon, typical for Settlers talking to each other when they could’ve just used English.
Don’t imitate it.
But here’s some decoding for you:
Chahko Hiyu Muckamuck, Minnehaha Hyiu Tilikum
= cháku háyú mə́kʰmək, miniháha* háyú-tílixam
= ‘come eat plenty, Minnehaha crowd!’
No word on whether the whole menu was in Chinuk Wawa, as some were in those days…
