Come ‘n’ git it!
Two more of the wonderful want ads placed by Indigenous people in the Sugarcane Bell mini-newspaper (KW #126, March 1895, page 37): Ad the first: [written on a picture of a rabbit:] Skukum makmak. Excellent food.… Continue reading
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Native humour: Formerly awesome boots
Hey Chinuk Wawa learners, you can do this too. Check out how easy it is to use Chinook Jargon for making jokes: ANKATI SKUKUM BUTS FORMERLY AWESOME BOOTS Ankati naika skukum tomtom kopa naika… Continue reading
Speak of the devil, er, slëïghër
A rockin’ coincidence! Traipsing along the typically slick track of my work, I’ve discovered another word for “sleigh” in Chinuk Wawa. You might recall a week ago when I reported solving a longstanding mystery —… Continue reading
The Sugarcane Bell: Kamloops Wawa iaka aw
The little brother of Kamloops Wawa: Shugirkin Tintin! [captions:] Shugir Kin Tintin | Iht nsaika tomtom. | Kamlups Wawa Sugarcane Bell | … Continue reading
Be not quass of nika…
Frederick Whymper‘s contribution to the Chinook Jargon doggerel canon! In “The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril & Heroism” (London: Cassell, 1883), this knowledgeable Northwest hand discourses sagely on Chinuk Wawa, including… Continue reading
Sleighing(,) a mystery
While I was reading, for my dissertation, dozens of Chinuk Wawa letters that Indigenous people wrote, one word was both new and surprising to me. Lasli. “Sleigh”, it seemed to mean. But I’ve… Continue reading
Happy New Year!
Verses for the end of year Ilo drit ayu son iakwa nisaika mitlait Nanish alta wan sno iaka wiht shako kopit… “Not very many days do we have left here; Look now, one… Continue reading
The priest makes it explicit, pardon his French
I’ve previously told how “the M-word“, musum ‘sleep’, had lewd overtones in Chinuk Wawa. Now the priest makes it explicit. Writing in shorthand French, Father Le Jeune observes in Kamloops Wawa #121 (October 1894, page 170):… Continue reading
Merry Christmas!
<Miri Krismas> kopa msaika! <Merry Christmas> to you folks! My gift to you is the first-ever Christmas story to be written in Chinuk pipa shorthand. I hope you’ll enjoy how it ties together Chinuk Wawa… Continue reading
The doggerel hits the fan! “Klose Nesika Illahee”
The doggerel hits the fan! Mysteries are sprayed liberally! From a one-page remembrance of an indigenous Warm Springs leader, “Stock Whitley” by Carson C. Masiker in Oregon Native Son and Historical Magazine, Vol. II no. 3-9… Continue reading