Category Archive: Uncategorized

Another Oregon coast folk etymology? Siuslaw and ‘far away’

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Honestly, you can add this one to the pile of things I thought I’d already written up.

1858: More “broken China” with “whooping Chenook”

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Here’s another neat demonstration of how two pidgins, Chinuk Wawa and Chinese Pidgin English, coexisted in the far west of North America.

Didactic dialogues in CW dictionaries, Part 8A (Prosch’s 1912 ms. dictionary)

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Dleit naika wawa masi kopa Alik Kod, yaka wawa kopa okok kopa naika web-sait.

1779, Nootka (BC) et al.: Riobó confirms no Chinook Jargon yet

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“Relación del viage que hizo el P.P. Fr. Juan Riobó” is yet another firsthand source — this one unpublished — about the earliest contacts that happened between Indigenous people and Newcomers.

Chinook Jargon in the news: 1889 Washington’s Magazine

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“A Fight for Federal Recognition” by Daniel O’Neil is in the April/May 2025 issue of 1889 Washington’s Magazine. Great in-depth reporting and ample, thoughtfully chosen photos make this a fine read. I like… Continue reading

Kaku-Ixt Mana Ina Haws, and Ɬatwa Ina

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I don’t appear to have mentioned these Chinuk Wawa names from Oregon State University:

The word for ‘Russian’, actually for ‘Unangax̂'(?), in Chinook Jargon

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Predictably, the word for ‘Russian’ in Chinook Jargon came from English, but there’s much more to the story, including a new discovery.

Chinook Jargon in the news! Seattle Met magazine

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“Seattle’s Historic Chinook Jargon is Having a Moment“, by Bess Lovejoy, is a well-reported article in Seattle Met magazine, dated April 21, 2025. Excellent photo illustrations and interviews with a number of the right people… Continue reading

1896: A sentence a day on a single topic, Part 50

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From Kamloops Wawa #142 (July 1896), page 155, one of the most vivid reading lessons I could possibly show you…

1896: A sentence a day on a single topic, Part 49

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From Kamloops Wawa #142 (July 1896), page 155, one of the most vivid reading lessons I could possibly show you…