Victor Rohr makes us aware that Chinook Writing extended pretty much to Alberta…i.e. Métis people?

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A letter in shorthand French from Victor Rohr dated September 30, 1898, extends our knowledge of how far to the East people were reading and writing Chinuk Pipa! 

Map from James A Teit, “The Shuswap“, page 450

I guess I hadn’t thought about how one (or more) of the Indigenous-written Chinook letters that I’ve rounded up from archives was written over there in Wilmer, BC, in the East Kootenays near the Alberta border.

Here’s an eyewitness telling us that those Kinbasket Secwépemc folks were indeed literate in their own language & in the Jargon. Interestingly, some people including other Secwépemc, have called them Métis.

(All deficiencies in the transcription & understanding of this shorthand French are owned by me! French shorthand is a whole different ballgame, and I’m still trying various French keyboards. Plus, I use WordPress.)

Nous avons quitté Golden le 17 septembre. Pendant 2
‘We left Golden, BC on September 17. Over the course of 2′

 

jours, le Aiak << Aiak >> nous a promené le long des beaux pays qui bordent
‘days, the (sternwheeler) Hyak took us for a ride all along the lovely lands that border’

 

la Colombie, jusqu’à 1/2* mille de Windermere. Là nous avons escalaté
‘the Columbia (River), to 1/2* a mile from Windermere, BC. There we scaled’

les collines pour aller voir les Shushwaps. Ce brave peuple m’a beaucoup edifie.
‘the hills to visit the Shuswaps. This brave people have greatly inspired me.’
J’ai trouve dans leur camp plusieurs lecteurs du Wawa, l’un dont ne sachant
‘I found in their camp several readers of the (Kamloops) Wawa, one of whom not knowing’
pas la steno, je me suis mis en devoir de la lui apprendre. Il s’appelle
‘shorthand, I took it on myself to teach it to him. He’s named’
Louis Stoikan*, le bras droit du pere Coccola. Je n’ai guere reussi. Cependant le
‘Louis Stoikan*, Father Coccola‘s right-hand man. I didn’t succeed at all. Nevertheless the’
pauvre homme est MEDI de la bonne volonte; si bien que sans deja coucher,
‘poor man is filled* with good intentions; so much so that before I could fall asleep,’
je l’entendait lui et sa femme, recitant a tout bout de champ: << A, E, I,
‘I heard him and his wife, reciting at every turn: “A, E, I,’
WA..A, E, I, O U..[>>]Le lendemain soir je les retrouvais au camp des
‘WA…A, E, I, O, U…” The next evening I found them again at the camp of the’
Kootenays. La nous avons recommence notre exercice stenographique dans une hutte de sauvages
‘Kootenays. There were began anew our shorthand practice in a Native hut.’
Je n’ai guere ete plus heureux que la vieille, mais Louis Sam*, se trouvait a cote de moi,
‘I was no happier than the old lady, but Louis Sam* was next to me.’
Il est jeune et tres intelligent..Et ainsi eleve de la mission…Il venait de
‘He’s young and very smart…And thus a student of the Mission…He had just’
voir les signes, que j’expliquais a Stoikan*. Il a compris du quoi. Lorsque je l’ai quitte
‘seen the signs I was explaining to Stoikan. He got it. When I left him’
il etait capable de dechiffrer, (mais lentement!) les mots que je lui ecrivais.
‘he was able to make out (but slowly!) the words I wrote for him.’
Avant de quitter le camp des Shushwaps, je me suis fait rire quelques
‘Before leaving the Shuswaps’ camp, I made myself read several’
pages du Shushwap Manual. Il y en avait plusieurs qui lisaient couramment..J’essayais
‘pages of the Shushwap Manual. There were several people who could read (it) fluently…I tried’
de lire un peu aussi; et je crois que si passais quelques jours avec eux, je saurais
‘to read a bit as well; and I think that if I spent several days with them, I’d know’
prononcer leur langue sans trop de difficulte. En outre nous avons chante des cantiques: entre autres
‘how to pronounce their language without too much difficulty. Besides that, we sang hymns: among others,’
le <<Iakwa Alta Naika Tlus Tomtom.>> Le pere Coccola l’intona et moi je chantais avec
‘the “Iakwa Alta Naika Tlus Tomtom.” Father Coccola intoned it, and me, I sang along with’
lui, comme si j’avais pratique le Chinook depuis des annees.
‘him as if I’d been practicing Chinook (Jargon) for years.’
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