1865, BC (west coast of Vancouver Island): Shipwreck and loss of life, and no Chinook!
Here we learn of the wreck of the American bark Iwanowna of San Francisco, on a trip out of Port Townsend (Washington Territory), at Nootka Island, British Columbia.
What is of interest to us Chinookers is the local Indigenous people’s lack of knowledge of Chinuk Wawa at such a seemingly late date.
Some have claimed, and I’ve often shown they’re wrong, that CW existed before folks of European background arrived in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1700s.
Another point I’ve tried to consistently make with this website is that some areas received Chinook Jargon later than others.
Since the sea otter supply bottomed out by around 1830, coastal territories that used to be booming now languished — in terms of contact with the Drifters/Settlers/Newcomers anyway! — for decades.
So there was scant need for the Jargon as late as 1865, as we’re about to read, even when people’s lives depended on communicating:
On the beach we met an Indian who
guided us to his house, and after keeping us for
two days, took us in a canoe, about 35 miles from
the wreck to an inlet of Nootka Sound, to anoth-
er Indian ranch [village], where we remained thirteen days,
the Indians treating us very kindly, furnishing us
with some clothing. We found the Indians could
neither speak Chinook or English, and everything
was done by signs.
— from “Shipwreck and Loss of Life”, in the Portland (OR) Oregonian of January 26, 1865, page 2, column 2
This, interestingly enough, suggests that we can date the numerous Chinook Jargon loans into Nuučaan̓uɬ (“Nootka”) with some precision, to 1865 or later.
