Street Chinook: dyspepsia!
There’s a rule of thumb we use when documenting a language: get the speaker to talk about a near-death experience. The reason for doing this is that you get the least filtered, most natural… Continue reading
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Delirium tremens in the Okanagan
A whole lotta shaking goin’ on! Hands, bodies, souls.
Temperance pledge, Stó:lō style (1893)
The other day in this blog I mentioned the epidemic of alcoholism in Indian country that we get a number of close glimpses into via the Kamloops Wawa newspaper. Under the influence of… Continue reading
Johnny Harper gets married & dies
The 1890s were a transitional time in the southern BC interior. Many Aboriginal people had been married in the old traditional way. Missionary priests were promoting Catholic marriage. Sometimes, a person would postpone… Continue reading
You, government White man, why don’t you first have a look at this Chinook writing?
The sequel to my post yesterday continues Father Le Jeune’s rant against White cynicism. Again, look closely. The differences between what Le Jeune writes in English (pretty civilly) and his Chinook Jargon (translated… Continue reading
White good, Indian bad
A racist Catch-22. Paraphrased: The only good Indian is one who you turn into a White person. The only easy way to acculturate the Indians is to use Chinook Jargon. Chinook Jargon is… Continue reading
Alcoholism and the first literate generation
I’m not intentionally connecting alcoholism with the introduction of literacy to people who had never known it, but you’ll often find the two subjects cheek-by-jowl in the letters of the Oblate missionary priests. One… Continue reading
“Nawitika” there’s a “hymn” pronunciation of Chinuk Wawa
Short post: “Nawitika” there is a “hymn” pronunciation of Chinuk Wawa. It amounts to throwing extra vowels in. This breaks up some of the consonant clusters that are harder (for European missionaries) to… Continue reading
Shaina man mamuk kansih kakwa
Which Chinese language is this? “The Chinese count like this:” (Kamloops Wawa issue #31, 19 June 1892, page 122) Shaina man mamuk kansih kakwa, <1.> iit <6> lawk ∫ Sondi lat bai… Continue reading
A weird duck from Duflot de Mofras
Eugène Duflot de Mofras authored another of the French-language sources that are less well-known in the Pacific Northwest, but very valuable for researching our history. It’s his 1844 book “Exploration du territoire de l’Orégon, de… Continue reading