Painful cartoon in Chinook Jargon
Pick any side to side with and you’ll find this one painful.
We worked on this one in last night’s Chinook Jargon session on Zoom.
Personally I find it of tremendous fascination that the ethnic group who would have been reading this cartoon at the time don’t appear, but would find it a damning commentary on White folks.
[single column:]
Ol man Noi ankati tlap tlun tanas, pi iaka tiki
‘Old man Noah long ago got (had) three children, and he wanted’
pus klaska slip kanawi kanamokst kopa iht bid.
‘them all to sleep together in one bed.’
Pi klaska kwanisim fait kanamokst.
‘But they kept fighting each other.’
Sim pi Shafit mash Kam kopa klahani
‘Shem and Japheth tossed Ham out,’
pi iaka aias klahawiam.
‘and he was miserable.’
[first subcolumn:]
<Sem> ‘Shem’ [actually Ham; he looks African]
Iaka ukuk
‘That’s how it was:’
Kam ilo iaka
‘Ham got’
tlap pasisi
‘no blanket,’
pi iaka
‘and so he’
chako
‘turned’
tlil kanawi
‘black all over.’
[second subcolumn:]
<Cham> ‘Ham’ [actually Shem; he looks East Asian]
Iakwa mitlait Sim
‘Here is Shem’
pi iak[a] aw
‘and his brother,’
iskom kanawi
‘who is taking every-’
ikta kopa iaka
‘thing from him’
[third subcolumn:]
<Japhet> ‘Japheth’ [who looks European]
Ukuk kimta
‘This last one’
iaka nim Shafit
‘was named Japheth.’
Iaka tolo kopa kanawi
‘He beat them all.’
Iaka tlap kanawi
‘He got all’
klaska
‘of their’
pasisi
‘blankets.’
— Kamloops Wawa #197, June 1901, page 31
