2 crowdsourcing challenges, 1918+1921, WA: A musical stage play in Chinook Jargon “Wah-Mah-Whah-Lah” + a postcard
The Spring 2013 issue of the magazine Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History had a neat article about someone we’ve gotten to know pretty well from the Chinook Jargon side of her life…
“Laura Belle Downey Bartlett” by Nancy Covert (pages 5-7).
That’s where I learned that LBDB wrote a musical play with Chinuk Wawa lyrics, “Wah-mah-whah-lah”!
She supposedly told people that the (nonsense) title meant, in Jargon, “beautiful mountains, lovely valleys, and crystal streams”, which sounds like the normal Settler fantasizing.
Anyhow — we hadn’t known of that item of Chinook literature! Can you track it down?
Here are some clues:
And a deciphering challenge:
While you’re busy finding this piece to share with the whole Chinook Jargon world, let me leave you with this January 20, 1921 CJ postcard (from the Steilacoom [WA] Historical Museum Association), also featured on page 7 of Covert’s article:
The address written on the card is the Lucerne Building, home of Beutel Business College, 901 Tacoma Avenue, Tacoma, WA
Nica delate tickey
nanage mica. Konaway*
Rand* tillicums ????
nica tenas shunta kopa
University ???? Tillicum
WhaAm* mitele* kopa
Columbia city alta. Mika
wawa paper kopa nica
icta mica mommock —
mica wawa kopa Eug*-
nice sick tum tum
kopa Injun wawa
konaway — nica papa
delate sick — nica hyas
klosh — Klahowya —
???? Harris* Springs
