1900, BC “humour”: A salmon deal

A few years into the post-frontier era, we have a “local colour” newspaper piece in Vancouver, British Columbia, that relies on Chinook Jargon for some humour.

The article by “Haida” (!) is actually quite long, so I won’t quote it all.

Let me just say that if you know even a bit of Chinuk Wawa, you’ll understand how funny this article’s cultural misunderstandings were supposed to be.

The piece opens with the quotation, “Mika tikki salmon?”, from Indigenous people who are selling fresh seafood door-to-door, as was common.

There’s plenty of the usual casual racism, too, in the article. To credit to the “saving graces” side of the ledger, the author admits to “our united ignorance of Chinook”.

The ignorant newcomer Whites who do the narrating make pathetic attempts at communication, tellingly falling into what seems Chinese Pidgin English at many points.

Go read it if it’s your bag! It’s in the Vancouver (BC) Daily World of June 22, 1900, page 4, columns 3-5