Author Archive

LBDB: Prose, not lyrics (Part 2)

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We’ve been looking at pioneer Laura Belle Downey Bartlett’s writing in Chinook Jargon, in contrast to her well-known song lyrics.

A Jargon verb mash-up in Central Coast Salish

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One useful verb in Hul’q’umin’um’ (sometimes called Cowichan) Salish of Vancouver Island strikes me as a borrowing from Chinuk Wawa…

1896 CPE: Scheme to land Chinese

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Another West Coast pidgin language?

How papa and mama, and one aunt, are creole Chinuk Wawa

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New news: words from French (and maybe also English) for your relatives match Chinuk Wawa’s pattern of turning Indian “vocative” kin terms into common nouns.

“In the sticks” and back to Chinuk Wawa

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My friend muskwatch posted a question on this blog: Does anyone know if the phrase “in the sticks” comes from Chinook Jargon?

LBDB: prose, not lyrics (Part 1)

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Pioneer baby Laura Belle Downey-Bartlett’s Chinuk Wawa has long interested me…

“Kamloops Wawa” in The Stenographer magazine (Part 2)

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Father Le Jeune of Kamloops Wawa heard about The Stenographer’s interest in his shorthand-written Chinook Jargon newspaper, and wrote a letter to the editor…

Arabella Clemens Fulton

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Arabella Clemens Fulton (1844-1934) took the Oregon Trail relatively late, in 1864…

One Grand Ronde word, and implications for Jargon adverbs

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A use of a neat Jargon word that hasn’t been pointed out before…

“Bringing Home the Wishing Rock”

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Is there a Chinuk Wawa tie-in to this cool public sculpture in Spokane?