Can you name any language that schoolkids can be expected to translate a treaty into, with no prior exposure?

This journey from Baker Bay (Chinook territory on the far lower Columbia River) via Shoalwater Bay and the “Chihalis” (Chehalis) River, to the lower Fraser and back, took place a year before the… Continue reading →

I’ve previous noted the many words for ‘baby’ in Chinook Jargon.

I’ve previously reported here, with some excitement, that the US Exploring Expedition commanded by Charles Wilkes documented Fort Vancouver-era place names on the lower Columbia River…

Linguistically, “helping” is a real, real interesting thing.

We’ve made a number of interesting discoveries as we’ve worked through the preceding six installments of this mini-series; now let’s see what awaits us in our next-to-last episode…

I recently wrote a little about how Captain Charles Bishop’s ship “Ruby” may have been the first to linger in the Pacific Northwest, and thus may have inspired Chinuk Wawa.

Finishing up our deep look into Reverend Myron Eells’ quite fluent late-frontier Christian sermon addressed to a Native audience… 

It should be a Sahaptian-family word, shouldn’t it, judging by where it was first documented?