Category Archive: Uncategorized

1872: “Letter written by an Indian Chief” at Grand Ronde

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Without preamble, a local newspaper published what it called a “Letter Written by an Indian Chief”, in recognizably local Chinuk Wawa. You talkin’ about me?: T.H.B. Odeneal (image credit: Levi Odeneal page) The… Continue reading →

Didactic dialogues in CW dictionaries, Part 4N (Gibbs 1863 ex phrases/sentences: How [the heck]?)

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Let’s get into the wherefores and how-to’s!

Lower Chehalis ‘fast; hurry’ ~~ Chinuk Wawa ‘fast; hurry’

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One word in Lower Chehalis Salish (an ancestor language of Chinuk Wawa) has 2 uses…

Deadline next Monday: Can you solve this quiz?

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At our friend Peter Bakker’s excellent LingoBlog, there’s a quiz you might want to try solving 😁

“Less familiar words” in the Northern Dialect (Part 2B: Le Jeune 1924, “Hudson Bay french words”)

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There’s more than one list highlighting “less familiar words” in JMR Le Jeune’s wonderful 1924 booklet, “Chinook Rudiments“, from Kamloops, BC. Le Jeune’s perspective, as a daily speaker and writer of Chinuk Wawa… Continue reading →

1878, Thurston County Fair, WA: Hyu snass…

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Unique spellings! Yay!

1879 [1853?]: A southwest Oregon “Indian war”

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On the Rogue River of southwest Oregon, a Settler group heading to hunt gold in California has a violent run-in with tribal people.

Learning from the Lane learners (Part 6: horses and more)

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I’m so happy we have reached a stage where we can learn from the learners of Chinuk Wawa!

1917 or earlier: Cheechako = Chicago!

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Apparently I’ve yet to write about this folk-etymology of a Chinook Jargon phrase…

1883: Hyas close ictas at Mattoon’s

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One of several ads for a western Oregon store in the late frontier era was in Jargon: