Who was the “Old Employee of the HBC”?
This question came up in our Saturday morning Chinook Jargon group this weekend … Interested in joining us? Email me: spokane ivy @ gmail . com
Author Archive
1 Comment
1889: Another Chinook interpreter in BC court (and “Second Charlie”?)
Back-translation, anyone?
1936, Hoquiam: Heap Little Chap Nowitka Skookum
A couple of generations past the frontier era, a kid who spoke Chinuk Wawa was worth a news article.
1900: The Northwest Jargon + William Jennings Bryan
In the post-frontier period, a traveling salesman in western Washington managed to avoid the already popular “sitkum dollar” joke…
1863: “Inciting Indians to revolt” in Victoria
“Half-breeds” took a lot of blame for social frictions between Natives and Settlers…
1900: “Hiou Tenas Iktah”
Some really nice visuals are to be found in an obscure old book with a Chinuk Wawa title…
1920: Yakka cultus man, a myth, and another Jargon song
This somewhat fanciful, sometimes nonsensical, piece comes to us from more than a generation after the frontier era…
1896: Illihee Club gift and mystery “matukta”
Are any of my readers able to figure out what matukta is?
2022: Art involving Chinuk Wawa
Opening in the Vancouver, BC metro area as I write this article, and running through December 11th, is an exciting new work of art involving fluent spoken Chinuk Wawa.
Early 1880s, Alaska: Skookum papers, skookum boards
In my understanding, “skookum papers“, a Chinuk Wawa expression, were 19th-century letters…