Author Archive

1912: “Tolneuch” by J. Chester Fox

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“TOLNEUCH”: This piece in a very popular magazine takes its name from a word in James G. Swan’s bestselling 1857 memoir of life on Shoalwater Bay, Washington Territory.

Early 1850s: ‘Christmas’ & ‘eat crow’ humor on Shoalwater Bay

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James Gilchrist Swan, early pioneer on Shoalwater Bay, Washington Territory (near Astoria), spoke excellent Chinuk Wawa & could repeat a good joke…

Is “rancherie” a gold rush word?

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In English, it’s primarily a Canadianism of a certain age.

Noses, Salish metaphors, & French rarities

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I’ve got two things on my nose, er, mind.

More of Bonnycastle Dale’s Chinook Jargon

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When the first word in a short article is an offensive use of a Chinuk Wawa word, I’m already skeptical…

“Potlatch house”, a PNW-ism … from Jargon?

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The phrase “potlatch house” first came up for my readers and me in an article about southeast Vancouver Island. (See “The Potlatch at Sooke“).

1887 Oregon CPE: Toy Chen’s opinion

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More about another frontier-era pidgin…

“Kamloops Wawa” in The Stenographer magazine (Part 3)

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The local Kamloops newspaper wrote about kamloops Wawa in a piece that probably was cut out and sent to The Stenographer (Philadelphia) by…

The Potlatch at Sooke

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Chinook Jargon is candidly used for local colour in this touristy 1907 eyewitness piece…

1901: Martha Douglas Harris’s “Chee-chee-ka” (Part 1)

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Martha Douglas Harris has a really interesting biography, from the BC Archives website: Martha Harris (née Douglas) was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1854 and was the youngest member of her family.… Continue reading