I’m not intentionally connecting alcoholism with the introduction of literacy to people who had never known it, but you’ll often find the two subjects cheek-by-jowl in the letters of the Oblate missionary priests. One… Continue reading
Short post: “Nawitika” there is a “hymn” pronunciation of Chinuk Wawa. It amounts to throwing extra vowels in. This breaks up some of the consonant clusters that are harder (for European missionaries) to… Continue reading
Which Chinese language is this? “The Chinese count like this:” (Kamloops Wawa issue #31, 19 June 1892, page 122) Shaina man mamuk kansih kakwa, <1.> iit <6> lawk ∫ Sondi lat bai… Continue reading
Eugène Duflot de Mofras authored another of the French-language sources that are less well-known in the Pacific Northwest, but very valuable for researching our history. It’s his 1844 book “Exploration du territoire de l’Orégon, de… Continue reading
[Edited 04/23/16 as I learned more about mules and donkeys.] Not to be an ass, but here’s the spoiler: an interesting word for “mule” gets used in the Kamloops Wawa‘s first telling of the… Continue reading
Nous avons vu, entre les mains d’un Père Jésuite de Saint-Paul, un dictionnaire manuscrit assez volumineux sur la langue Tchinook, qu’il s’était, pendant quinze années, donné la fastidieuse peine de rédiger pour l’usage… Continue reading
I found something that’s definitely usable in 2015, in an 1892 Chinook newspaper — it’s their “leftovers”. In previous years, I’ve read my way through every one of the 250 or so issues… Continue reading
One of the most frequently asked questions! “How do you say ‘I love you’ in Chinook?” If you go Grand Ronde style, you can say “Nayka q’at mayka”. That’s definitely romance. In the… Continue reading
(Just don’t say kaupy machine.)* Here is the moment when Chinook Jargon office work was born 🙂 As pictured above, issue #9 of the young Kamloops Wawa newspaper set several standards for the new literate culture that… Continue reading
I’d like to point you to someone else’s blog post, where he tells of deciding to make a traditional yearly toast to the Queen more reflective of BC’s history. Read Mike Scoretz’s “Chinook Jargon… Continue reading
