‘Breechcloth’ in Lower Chehalis shows hidden Chinuk Wawa testicles
In the classic publication by photographer Edward S. Curtis, “The North American Indian” (1907/1930), Volume 9, page 188 documents the Lower Chehalis Salish word < s͡hĭ-pi-ís-kat > for ‘breech-cloth’.
It was difficult to find a relevant image. This one’s not by Curtis, I’m sorry (image credit: A.J. Clothiers)
Curtis’s spelling of that word would apparently indicate a Lower Chehalis šəp-ísq-ət̓ (lit. ~cover-stones-thing.used.for).
This is almost certainly in part a loan translation, influenced by Chinuk Wawa stún ‘rock; testicle’.
It’s a very different word than we find for a ‘breechcloth’ in the sister languages of Lower Chehalis.
And the metaphor of ‘stones’ for ‘testicles’ is unique to CW, in the region. Salish languages share an ancient word of their own that only means ‘testicles’.
So whoever was the Lower Chehalis speaker working with Curtis, it seems as if that work was being done via Chinook Jargon.
And it appears that while thinking in Jargon, they made up (calqued) a word for a ‘breechcloth’ that involved this metaphor of ‘stones’.
Basically like thinking, well, if I had a word for that it’d be an ípsut-stún-íkta!
