Author Archive

Chemawa’s Ramona literary club has a Chinook Jargon yell

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Taking part in a big post-frontier Pacific Northwest trend, Chemawa Indian School had a school cheer in Chinook Jargon. 

1870 BC humour: Pardon my Chinook, but I have legislative aspirations

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“A philosophical miner” in the frontier gold-rush era uses some Chinook Jargon to tell his creditor it’s doubtful he can repay them…

Re-evaluating Boas’s 1888 “Chinook Songs” (Part 7)

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Today’s installment of this mini-series brings us a Chinook song that’s my favorite of the bunch due to its humour…

1940s, Cow Creek: Growing up with “English, French, & Chinuk Wawa”

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Chinuk Wawa really held on in some backwater areas…

Re-evaluating Boas’s 1888 “Chinook Songs” (Part 6)

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Discoveries about Chinuk Wawa since 1888 show that there’s a lot more happening in these songs than Dr. Boas’s article recognized. 

Shooting affair at Dog Creek

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For a short news article, there’s plenty to chew on here.

Re-evaluating Boas’s 1888 “Chinook Songs” (part 5)

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The takeaway here is that it’s a good thing we’re examining these song lyrics in light of Chinook Jargon knowledge acquired since 1888.

1903: Ways of Indian and Chinook Jargon

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A post-frontier Portland human interest/editorial piece pronounces Chinuk Wawa long dead.

Re-evaluating Boas’s 1888 “Chinook Songs” (Part 4)

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Spoiler alert…

Klahowya! From the Strait of Juan de Fuca?

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This idea was first inspired by a song sung by Dr. Scott Tyler 20 years ago, so I say ƛ̓e●ko● to him.