Category Archive: Chinook Jargon

From Copenhagen to Okanagan, part 3

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[See part 1 for full info on this fascinating memoir of life in the Washington Okanagan country, 1880s-1930s.  It’s still in print, apparently, from Okanogan County Historical Society.  Click the picture to visit… Continue reading →

From Copenhagen to Okanogan, part 2

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{Have you subscribed to get notified of my blog posts via email?} See my first post about this book for bibliographic info.   In this installment, notice the vivid descriptions of sign language… Continue reading →

From Copenhagen to Okanogan, part 1

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Part 1 of a multi-part blog post… “From Copenhagen to Okanogan” by U[lrich] E[nglehardt] Fries, 2nd printing published 1951 by Caxton Printers of Caldwell, Idaho. It’s one of my favorite books for quotations… Continue reading →

Komox or Comox, and “dog”?

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Sometimes people familiar with Vancouver Island, BC, wonder if the name “Comox” is a spelling of Chinook Jargon’s word for “dog”. Comox is a town on the north-central coast of the island.  This… Continue reading →

Leon Fouquet OMI 1831-1912

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Some useful information on this French missionary from Thomas Anthony Lascelles’ 1986 Simon Fraser University MA thesis, “Leon Fouquet and the Kootenay Indians, 1874-1887” (download it): Page 10 — In 1859, based in… Continue reading →

Bilingual because it’s Canadian

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Somebody offered me some bars of motel soap.  I didn’t really need anything like that, but wouldn’t you know this was right on top: Antique or what?  Is this hoary old design still… Continue reading →

You can download my dissertation on Chinook Jargon

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If you’re interested in Chinook Jargon, you can download the dissertation I just defended in the University of Victoria’s department of linguistics: “Kamloops Chinuk Wawa, Chinuk pipa, and the vitality of pidgins“ It’s… Continue reading →

Coming soon: a Chinook shorthand font?

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This document is technical and over my head… Proposal to include Duployan script and Shorthand Format Controls in Unicode/ISO-10646 file:///C|/Users/vanisaac/Desktop/WG2_Duployan/WG2Duployan.html[2010-09-29 23:59:37] Document # N3895r Title: Proposal to include Duployan script and Shorthand Format… Continue reading →

Reading fresh messages in old letters at fort

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Reading fresh messages in old letters at fort Program illustrates vital link between literacy and local history ‘[A] program at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site was the first time the link between literacy and local… Continue reading →

Ranch tales: The origin of the Chinook language

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Ranch tales: The origin of the Chinook language By Ken Mather – Vernon Morning Star Published: July 22, 2011 1:00 AM ‘Early B.C. cowboys were allegedly masters of three languages, English, Chinook and profane…’ As one… Continue reading →