1874, BC: Ka hokoke stemah klatawa?
“Navigating by a Dead-Reckoning” is the headline on a territorial-era newspaper piece about the steamship North Pacific leaving Victoria, BC on its way to Puget Sound…
…but getting turned around and heading for Sitka, Alaska Territory by its incompetent captain!
The North Pacific (image credit: Wikipedia)
An Indigenous man on board is quoted as speaking in untranslated Northern Chinook Jargon:
After running an hour
or two, an Indian steerage passenger,
who had been meditating in open-
mouthed wonder upon the strange an-
tics of the once staid craft, ejaculated
“Ka hokoke stemah klatawa?[“] which in-
terrogatory was met with a look of
withering scorn from the Captain.
— from the Olympia (Washington Territory) Washington Standard of January 31, 1874, page 2, column 3
This Chinuk Wawa sentence means “Where is this steamer going?” I gather that the vessel should’ve already arrived at Port Angeles by then!
