Author Archive

The importance of women in printing Kamloops Wawa

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All I can add to this superb and important note about Chinuk Pipa‘s reliance on female printers is that Angele Edward was Hyacinth Sisyésq’t’s daughter-in-law.

1859: Capture and destruction of the brig Swiss Boy

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David K. Welden or Walden, “master” of the American brig Swiss Boy, took to newsprint to publicize the loss of his ship in the Ditidaht area of Vancouver Island.

In trouble

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Another frontier-era meditation on whether Chinuk Wawa renders you fit for “civilized” life…

Johnny Skuzzy, Catholic outcast in Lytton, BC

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Quite a bit of interesting Chinuk Wawa stuff came out of the Catholic/Protestant turf border town of Lytton, BC…

Crazy etymology claim: “hike” is from Chinook Jargon!

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Picking up a trail I’ve merely pointed at before…

1882: Trying to argue in Jargon for assimilation, with Indians you’re interviewing

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“Into Eastern Washington by Rail” is a newspaper’s local-colour piece showing the reporter arguing with Indigenous people at Ainsworth (it was near latter-day Pasco), Washington Territory…

Confirmed: Grand Ronde CW ‘colt’

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Serendipitously, we can now confirm a “new” Jargon discovery that I noted just the other day.

1854: Alki’s Denny has more to say about Chinuk Wawa monolinguals making bad citizens

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A letter from well-known Alki (soon to be Seattle) pioneer A[rthur] A. Denny (1822-1899) clarifies what had been reported of his views expressed at the Territorial Assembly session…

Olive Quigley interview

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I’m always happy to learn more about female speakers of Chinook Jargon, as they’ve been underrepresented in the fur-trade-centric historical record.

The last writing of the first Chinuk Pipa writer

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About this time 126 years ago, a sad end came to a remarkable and important young man…