Author Archive

Idaho’s fictional Chinuk Wawa

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A Romance of the Sawtooth is a novel of Idaho authored by Ogal Alla, a pseudonym for F[red] G. Mock (1861-1956).

“Ickerman, chickerman”: an old PNW kids’ rhyme?

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A possible find of enormous interest. But cross-reference with “doggerel”!

Early Chinuk Wawa loans into English

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Today we find that by 1850, people already were using Chinook Jargon words in local English without having to explain themselves…

Other Conundrums…Henry Tsang’s “Utter Jargon”

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A site-specific Chinuk Wawa public art piece, Kamloops, 1993.

Edward “Golden Potlatch” Clayson part 2

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I found out more of “Patriarch” Clayson’s background, and he wasn’t a southerner, he was British…

“Golden Potlatch” song in Chinuk Wawa

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You know sparks will fly. A Jargon song, and lots of other Olympic Peninsula Chinook Jargon recollections, from an early settler who styled himself “The Patriarch”.

What thing is a shaman?

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A clue about how Chinuk Wawa was used by artifact collectors in southeast Alaska, circa 1886:

Belgians & Chinook

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Also worth a look, especially on a Sunday:

Our Oral Histories Are Our Iron Posts

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The weekend is a good time to find a spare hour and read about some of the history that’s behind Chinuk Wawa, told by people in several Native communities.

A new Quileute => Salish => Chinuk Wawa discovery

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At first I didn’t realize I’d discovered it 🙂 Does that still count?!