The Sound of the Southern Carrier / Dakelh language (Numbers, Greetings & The Book of John)

Carrier is generally regarded as one of three members of the central British Columbia subgroup of Athabaskan, the other two being Babine-Witsuwit'en and Tŝilhqot’in. Carrier proper consists of two regional dialect groups, Dakelh (ᑕᗸᒡ) and Southern Carrier, where the latter is divided into two subgroups, Fraser/Nechakoh and Blackwater which are further subdivided into the individual dialects.

The Fraser/Nechakoh subdivision of Southern Carrier includes the Lheidli, Saik'uz, Nadleh, Nautey, Stelakoh, Stoney Creek, Prince George, and Cheslatta dialects. The Blackwater division includes the Anahim Lake, Red Bluff, Nazko, Kluskus, and Ulkatcho dialects, and is is mutually comprehensible with all other Carrier dialects.

Southern Carrier has an extremely extensive and productive system of noun classifications. It has multiple classification subsystems and they can take place in the same sentence or same verb.

The etymology of 'Carrier'

The name 'Carrier' is a translation of the Sekani name 'aghele' meaning “people who carry things around on their backs", due to the fact that the first Europeans to learn of the Carrier, the Northwest Company explorers led by Alexander Mackenzie, first passed through the territory of the Carriers' Sekani neighbors. The received view of the origin of the Sekani name is that it refers to the distinctive Carrier mortuary practice in which a widow carried her husband's ashes on her back during the period of mourning. An alternative hypothesis is that it refers to the fact that the Dakelh, unlike the Sekani, participated in trade with the coast, which required packing loads of goods over the Grease Trails (also known as the “Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail”).

Writing system

Carrier was formerly written in the Carrier syllabary, or Déné Syllabics, which was devised by missionary and linguist Adrien-Gabriel Morice in 1885. He adapted it from the syllabic writing systems developed for the Athabaskan languages of the Northwest Territories of Canada by Emile Petitot, and from the Cree Syllabics developed by James Evans.

A good deal of scholarly material, together with the first edition of the 'Little Catechism' and the third edition of a 'Prayerbook', is written in the writing system used by the missionary priest Adrien-Gabriel Morice in his scholarly work. This writing system was a somewhat idiosyncratic version of the phonetic transcription of the time. It is subphonemic and was never used by Carrier people themselves, though many learned to read the Prayerbook in it.

The Carrier syllabary was widely used for several decades for such purposes as writing diaries and letters and leaving messages on trees, but began to fade from use in the 1930s. Though the syllabary is no longer used or understood by many people, there has been a recent revival of interest in it and it occasionally appears on plaques and memorials.

In the 1960s, the Carrier Linguistic Committee in Fort St James developed an alternative writing system based on the Latin alphabet, designed to be typed on a standard English typewriter.

It uses numerous digraphs and trigraphs to write the many Carrier consonants not found in English, e.g. ⟨gh⟩ for [ɣ] and ⟨lh⟩ for [ɬ], with an apostrophe to mark glottalization, e.g. ⟨ts'⟩ for the ejective alveolar affricate. Letters generally have their English rather than European values. For example, ⟨u⟩ represents /ə/ while ⟨oo⟩ represents /u/. The only diacritic it uses in its standard form is the underscore, which is written under the sibilants (⟨s̠⟩, ⟨z̠⟩, ⟨t̠s̠⟩, and ⟨d̠z̠⟩) to indicate that the consonant is laminal denti-alveolar rather than apical alveolar. An acute accent is sometimes used to mark high tone, but tone is not routinely written in Dakelh.

Currently, the Latin-inspired CLC script is the most commonly used writing system for Dakelh.

Syntax

In general terms, Carrier is a head-final language: the verb comes at the end of the clause, adpositions are postpositions rather than prepositions, and complementizers follow their clause. However, it is not consistently head-final: in head-external relative clauses, the relative clause follows the head noun. Carrier has both head-internal and head-external relative clauses. The subject usually precedes the object if one is present.

Carrier is an 'everything-drop' language. A verb can form a grammatical sentence by itself. It is not in general necessary for the subject or object to be expressed overtly by a noun phrase or pronoun.

Contact with other languages

Dakelh is neighbored on the west by Babine-Witsuwit'en and Haisla, to the north by Sekani, to the southeast by Shuswap, to the south by Chilcotin, and to the southwest by Nuxalk. Furthermore, in the past few centuries, with the westward movement of the Plains Cree, there has been contact with the Cree from the East. Dakelh has borrowed from some of these languages, but apparently not in large numbers. Loans from Cree include [məsdus] ('cow') from Cree (which originally meant "buffalo" but extended to "cow" already in Cree) and [sunija] ('money, precious metal'). There are also loans from languages that do not directly neighbor Dakelh territory. A particularly interesting example is [maj] ('berry, fruit'), a loan from Gitksan, which has been borrowed into all Dakelh dialects and has displaced the original Athabascan word.

European contact has brought loans from a number of sources. The majority of demonstrable loans into Dakelh are from French, though it is not generally clear whether they come directly from French or via Chinook Jargon. Loans from French include [liɡok] ('chicken') (from French le coq 'rooster'), [lisel] (from le sel 'salt'), and [lizas] ('angel'). As these examples show, the French article is normally incorporated into the Dakelh borrowing. A single loan from Spanish is known: [mandah] ('canvas, tarpaulin'), apparently acquired from Spanish-speaking packers.

The trade language Chinook Jargon came into use among Dakelh people as a result of European contact. Most Dakelh people never knew Chinook Jargon. It appears to have been known in most areas primarily by men who had spent time freighting on the Fraser River. Knowledge of Chinook Jargon may have been more common in the southwestern part of Dakelh country due to its use at Bella Coola. The southwestern dialects have more loans from Chinook Jargon than other dialects. For example, while most dialects use the Cree loan described above for "money", the southwestern dialects use [tʃikəmin], which is from Chinook Jargon. The word [daji] ('chief') is a loan from Chinook Jargon.

European contact brought many new objects and ideas. The names for some were borrowed, but in most cases terms have been created using the morphological resources of the language, or by extending or shifting the meaning of existing terms. Thus, [tɬʼuɬ] now means not only "rope" but also "wire", while [kʼa] has shifted from its original meaning of "arrow" to mean "cartridge" and [ʔəɬtih] has shifted from "bow" to "rifle". [hutʼəp], originally "leeches" now also means "pasta". A microwave oven is referred to as [ʔa benəlwəs] ('that by means of which things are warmed quickly'). "Mustard" is [tsʼudənetsan] ('children's feces'), presumably after the texture and color rather than the flavor.

 Place names in Dakelh

Here are the Dakelh names for some of the major places in Dakelh territory, written in the Carrier Linguistic Committee writing system:

Sign saying "Wheni Lheidli T'enneh ts'inli" meaning “We are Lheidli T'enneh” in the Lheidli dialect.

• Mount Pope – Nak'al

• Fort St. James – Nakʼaz̠dli

• Stuart Lake – Nakʼalbun

• Stuart River – Nakʼalkoh

• Fraser Lake – Nadlehbun

• Nautley River – Nadlehkoh

• Endako River – Ndakoh

• Stellako River – Stellakoh

• Tachie River – Duzdlikoh

• Nechako River – Nechakoh

• Fraser River – Lhtakoh

• Prince George - Lheidli

• Babine Lake – Nadobun

• Burns Lake – T̠s̠elhkʼazkoh

• Francois Lake – Nedabun

• Cluculz Lake – Lhoohkʼuz

Fluent Speakers

Figures reported in 2014 stated about 680 fluent speakers of Carrier, and another 1,380 people with some knowledge of the language.

According to a 2016 census conducted by the Government of Canada, there were 1,270 fluent speakers of the Carrier language. Among the 1,270 speakers, 1,045 have the language as a single mother tongue and 225 have the language as one of their mother tongues.

Status

Like most of the languages of British Columbia, Dakelh is an endangered language. Only about 10% of Dakelh people now speak the Dakelh language, hardly any of them children. Members of the generation following that of the last speakers can often understand the language but they do not contribute to its transmission.

The UNESCO status of Carrier/Dakelh is "Severely Endangered", which means the language rates an average of 2/5 on UNESCO's 9 factors of language vitality, with 5 being safe and 0 being extinct. According to Dwyer's article on tools and techniques for endangered language assessment and revitalization, the three most critical factors out of the nine are factors numbered one - intergenerational transmission, three - proportion of speakers within the total population, and four - proportion of speakers within the total population. Carrier scores in the "severely endangered" category for all three of these most important factors, as well as most of the nine.

Revitalization and Maintenance Efforts

Carrier is taught as a second language in both public and band schools throughout the territory. This instruction provides an acquaintance with the language but has not proven effective in producing functional knowledge of the language. Carrier has also been taught at the University of Northern British Columbia, the College of New Caledonia, and the University of British Columbia. Several communities have underway mentor-apprentice programs and language nests.

The Yinka Dene Language Institute (YDLI) is charged with the maintenance and promotion of Dakelh language and culture. Its activities include research, archiving, curriculum development, teacher training, literacy instruction, and production of teaching and reference materials.

Prior to the founding of YDLI in 1988 the Carrier Linguistic Committee, a group based in Fort Saint James affiliated with the Summer Institute of Linguistics, produced a number of publications in Dakelh, literacy materials for several dialects, a 3000-entry dictionary of the Stuart Lake dialect, and various other materials.

The Carrier Linguistic Committee is largely responsible for literacy among younger speakers of the language. The Carrier Bible Translation Committee produced a translation of the New Testament that was published in 1995. An adaptation to Blackwater dialect appeared in 2002.

Documentation efforts have been varied and the extent of documentation differs considerably from dialect to dialect. By far the best-documented dialect is the Stuart Lake dialect, of which Father Adrien-Gabriel Morice published a massive grammar and dictionary. More recent work includes the publication of some substantial pieces of text by the Carrier Linguistic Committee, the publication of a grammar sketch, and the on-going creation of a large electronic dictionary, with a corresponding print version, that contains earlier material, including Morice's, as well as much new material. For other dialects, there are print and/or electronic dictionaries ranging from 1,500 or so entries up to over 9,000.

FirstVoices Language Learning

FirstVoices Website

FirstVoices is an online indigenous language archiving and learning resource administered by the First Peoples' Cultural Council of British Columbia, Canada. Dakelh/Southern Carrier language is one of the languages documented on the website. Information on alphabets, words, phrases, songs, and stories are available. Both orthography and voice recordings are provided on the website. Games and a kids portal are also available for pre-readers to engage with the language.

FirstVoices App

The Nazko-Dakelh mobile application has a bilingual dictionary and a collection of Dakelh/Southern Carrier language phrases that are archived on the FirstVoices website. It is available for free on both Apple and Android mobile operating systems.

Download a script charts for Carrier (Excel)

YOUR CHINOOK WAWA WORD OF THE DAY: MESACHIE

MESACHIE

[me-SA'-chi] — adjective

Meaning: Bad; bitter; cruel; depravity; dissolute; dung; evil; filthy; grumpy; harm; immodest; immoral; iniquity;  insolence; malign; naughty; nasty; obscene; sin; sinner; treacherous; ungodly; unrighteous; unruly; unworthy; vice; vile; wicked. 

Origin: Chinook, masáchi “Bad”; “wicked” < Chinook masachi "evil","nasty","malign" (Chinookan languages of Washington and Oregon)

"Mesachie" (occasionally written as “mesahchie”, mesatchee”, or “masachi”) is used in Chinook to indicate anything worse than "Cultas" (bad). While there are other words in Chinook Jargon to describe spirits or malign forces and states of being, “mesachie” has only a negative meaning, representing something  bad, vile, vicious in the sense of vileness, filth, dirtiness, vice, rottenness, etc., whether in the abstract or in the concrete. It is probably more often used to describe things as being obscene or depraved than in any other sense, though it covers the whole catalogue of things or conditions that are "worse than the worst," "rotten to the core," and all like ideas where the term "bad" does not reach far enough. It also means dangerous or "danger-from" vile things. The words used before or after it qualify its meaning, or couple the vile meaning with the ordinary meaning of any other word.

It has sometimes been translated as "naughty" or "mischievous" when used to describe a child,  but this does not seem to embrace the malice and innate evil implicit in the context of this term, and appears to be used hyperbole (i.e. "evil child" as a scold). Generally it is a word understood to mean "the limit of human depravity" from all angles, and can be used to mean anything from simple “mesachie mamook” (misconduct) to a “mesachie tumtum” (mean spirited, malice) effort to “mamook mesachie” (to harm, to spoil) something. 

A “mesachie klootchman” (harlot) may “haul kopa mesachie” (tempt) or “mahsh mesachie kunamokst” (adulterate), while a “mesachie man” (transgressor) could also be a “delate mesachie man” (a very wicked man), who might be a “mesachie tillikum” (enemy, rascal, sinner, villain) or a “hyas mesachie tillikum” (outlaw).

If one were to “wawa mesachie” (to curse, swear) or “mesachie wawa” (curse, slander), that might be considered one type of severity, though a “mesachie wind” (gale, storm, bad weather) could be considerably "elip mesachie” (worse), though there are things that would be classified as something "elip mesachie kopa konaway" (worse than all, worst), such as “mesachie tamahnous” (demon, fiend, witchcraft, necromancy).

Characters in a horror film will undoubtedly find themselves in "mesachie mitlite" (danger, peril, the place where bad is) in a place that is likely “hiyu mesachie mitlite” (unclean), and in a state of mind that is best described as “hyas mesachie” (horrible, horrid) or “delate hyas mesachie” (terrible, terror).

“Mesachie”, like many words in Chinook Wawa, has lent itself to many place names in Cascadia, including:

Mesachie Lake is an unincorporated community in the Cowichan Valley region of Vancouver Island, located 5 km (3.1 miles)  west of the village of Lake Cowichan. Founded in 1942 by the Hillcrest Lumber Company, which built houses for its workers and their families, the community lies between the south shore of Cowichan Lake to the west, and Mesachie Lake to the east. The lumber company planted many non-native fruit and shade trees which have since been given heritage status.

Mesachie Nose is a glacial formation point in British Columbia southeast of Labouchere Point with an elevation of 31 meters (101.7 feet) that plunges straight down into the water. The water here is frequently whipped into steep chop by the wind, and when a south-western wind is blowing, the Nose is apparently a bad place to be, as an unpleasant backwash can form off its precipitous cliff.

Mesahchie Peak, located 0.25 mi 0.40 km (0.25 miles) east of Katsuk Peak at an elevation of 2,681 meters (8,795 feet), is the highest peak of Ragged Ridge, and is one of the hundred highest mountains of Washington. The pass resides in a neighborhood of rich alpine splendor, and it is the north side of the mountain which provides the most inspiring climbing. There is a North Ridge, a Northwest Ridge, and icefall on the Mesahchie Glacier and an icy couloir route which joins the East Ridge. The easiest route is the South Rib, which requires exposed class 3 climbing and some route finding skill. Both the Katsuk and Mesahchie Glaciers descended down the northwest and northeast flanks of the peak respectively.

Mesatchee Creek is a stream located near Chinook Pass, off Highway 410, east of Mount Rainier National Park. At an elevation of 694 metres (2276.9 feet) above sea level, Mesatchee Creek has cut a rather substantial canyon as it flows down the side of the well-sculpted glacial valley, creating several waterfalls along its journey. This is the final major drop, where the creek skips down a jagged face and into a rather desolate ravine. The forest opens up quite nicely around the falls and in addition to the falls, views out over the valley with Mount Rainier looming in the background are well worth the hike.

YOUR CHINOOK WAWA WORD OF THE DAY: KWASS

KWASS

[kwas] — Adjective, noun.

Meaning: Afraid, Awe; Distrust; Dread; Fear; Fearful; Shy; Tame; Timid

Origin: From a Chinookan particle k’wash ‘afraid’

Expressing notions of fear and hesitancy, the word “kwass” lends itself to an adequate description of a “kwass kalakala” (pigeon).

Scary movies are designed to “mamook kwass” (scare, frighten, alarm), and experience “hyas kwass” (horror) in order to “chako kwass” (frighten) us, or at least make us “kwass pe shake” (shudder).

A “kwass man” (coward) would be considered  “kwass tumtum” (cowardly; fearful), and would likely say "nika kwass" (I am afraid). But if one was “halo kwass” (fearless, bold, hopeful) and “halo nika kwass kopa yaka” (reliable), they would be expected to say “halo nika kwass” (I will risk it).

YOUR CHINOOK WAWA WORD OF THE DAY: TAMAHNOUS

TAMAHNOUS

 [ta-MAH'-no-us] or [tam-án-a-was] or [tamá-nawas] or [tah-MAH'-na-wis] — noun, verb, adjective

Meaning: Spirit; Guardian spirit; Personal Spirit; Ghost; Goblin; Witch; Magic; Luck; Fortune; Slight of hand; One's particular forte, specialty, or strength

Origin: Several possible, perhaps convergent etymologies:

Chinook, itamánawas 'guardian or familiar spirit; magic, luck, fortune; anything supernatural' >i-ta-mánwash (spirit creature) 

Sahaptin tamánwit ‘law, government’, esp. that of Nature as spelled out by Coyote, the mythological emissary of the creator and law-giver, who was known as tamanwilá > tamánwi ‘create, ordain’ 

Nimipuutímt tamálwi ‘lead, plan, legislate’

A word with multiple spellings and slight pronunciation variation, including, but not limited to: tomahnous, tamanass, tahmahnawis, tamánawas, tamanawass, and tamanawaz [This document will use the slightly more common ‘tamahnous’ for sake of clarity] to describe some form of spiritual or supernatural power. It is a concept similar in many ways to that of wakd or mahopa of the Oceti Sakowin; manitowi of the Algonquin; pokunt of the Shoshone; orenna or karenna of the Mohawk, Cayuga, and Oneida; urente of the Tuscarora; the iarenda or orenda by the Huron; kami of the Japanese; kamuy of the Ainu; fylgja or hamingja of the Norse; and mana of the Melanesian and Polynesian cultures.

One’s “tamahnous” can be their guardian spirit, who gives them their strength, or can be an evil spirit out to steal  one’s soul. The word is used as a noun, a verb or as an adjective according to whether it means a spirit is invoking the supernatural, or is ascribing magic powers either to men or to some object used as a charm. 

An invective level one step higher than “mesachie”, when used to mean "bad". “Mesachie tamahnous” (demon, fiend, witchcraft, necromancy) was a title usually assigned to an evil spirit of some kind, as seen in the expression "klale tamahnous" (black magic, the Devil).

A sudden or unseasonal storm might be referred to as a “tamahnous wind” (preternaturally big wind, very bad storm), while a particularly vile imperialist might be referred to as “tamahnous whiteman” (damned whiteman; devilish whiteman)

However, “tamahnous” also has a general (and potentially benign) meaning associated with magic or the supernatural that need not convey evil or malice, whereas “mesachie” has no such supernatural context and is always evil or malicious. People were often aided or helped by a “kloshe tamahnous” (good spirit). Traditional healers would “mamook tamahnous” (conjure, make magic) to cure many ills, and the title “tamahnous man” (sorcerer, wizard, conjurer) would be applied to an indigonus doctor or ‘medicine man’.

The book Ten Years in Oregon (Daniel Lee & Joseph H. Frost, 1844) features two references to the word:

It is firmly believed that [medicine-men] can send a bad “tam-an-a-was” into a person, and make him die.

[...] there were but two men in the whole clan that had the Elk “tamanawas,” that is, the spirit of the elk hunter.

There also exists a Chinookan word that made its way into Chinook Wawa, “tah” (a spirit;  supernatural thing or person), which together with “tamahnous” appear in The Forgotten Tribes: Oral Tales Of The Teninos And Adjacent Mid-Columbia River Indian Nations (Donald.M. Hines, 1991). An excerpt, collected April 1921 from an unknown informant, sheds some possible light onto the concept of “tamahnous” as a personal spirit power:

A band of Umatilla hunters were in camp. A great eagle was soaring, circled and soared overhead, far up in the skies. An aged Tahmahnawis man was challenged to bring down the eagle with his Tah.

He said: “I can do that.” The old hunter “shot” his Ta hmahnawis at the bird, but to no purpose. The eagle continued soaring.

It was then that a younger man said: “You are too old. You cannot kill the eagle with your Tahmahnawis power. I will now kill the eagle with my power.”

Suiting action to his words, the young man “shot” his tahmahnawis at the eagle which immediately came tumbling down through the air, falling dead neart the camp. The aged Indian made no comment. He had been beaten by his younger companion.

Early observers usually referred to these spirit powers by the Chinook Jargon term tamahnous, as in “tamahnous dancing” or “tamahnous spirit”. In the rather biased document Ten Years Of Missionary Work Among The Indians at Skokomish, Washington Territory (Myron Eells 1886), “tamahnous” is described at great length, stating:

Another great difficulty in the way of their accepting Christianity is their religion. The practical part of it goes by the name of ta-mah-no-us, a Chinook word, and yet so much more expressive than any single English word, or even phrase, that it has almost become Anglicized. Like the Wakan of the Dakotas, it signifies the supernatural in a very broad sense. There are three kinds of it.

Black Tamahnous Rattle.

First. The Black Tamahnous. This is a secret society. During the performance of the ceremonies connected with it, all the members black their faces more or less, and go through a number of rites more savage than any thing else they do. They do not tell the meaning of these, but they consist of starving, washing, cutting themselves, violent dancing, and the like.

Bird Mask Used in the Black Tamahnous Ceremonies by the Clallams.

It was introduced among the Twanas from the Clallams, who practiced it with much more savage rites than the former tribe. It is still more thoroughly practiced by the Makahs of Cape Flattery, who join the Clallams on the west. It was never as popular among the Twanas as among some other Indians, and is now practically dead among them. It still retains its hold among a portion of the Clallams, being practised at their greatest gatherings. It is believed that it was intended to be purifical, sacrificial, propitiatory.

Swine Masks Used in the Black Tamahnous Ceremonies by the Clallams.

Second. The Red, or Sing, Tamahnous. During the performance of its ceremonies, they generally painted their faces red. It was their main ceremonial religion. During the fall and winter they assembled, had feasts, and performed these rites, danced and sang their sacred songs; it might be for one night, or it might be for a week or so. Sometimes this was done for the sake of purifying the soul from sin. Sometimes in a vision a person professed to have seen the spirits of living friends in the world of departed spirits, which was a sure sign that they would die in a year or two, unless those spirits could be brought back to this world. So they gathered together and with singing, feasting, and many ceremonies, went in spirit to the other world and brought these spirits back.

Mask Used in the Black Tamahnous Ceremonies by the Clallams.

[The markings are of different colors. The wearer sees through the nostrils.]

This spirit-world is somewhere below, within the earth. When they are ready to descend, with much ceremony a little of the earth is broken, to open the way, as it were, for the descent. Having traveled some distance below, they come to a stream which must be crossed on a plank. Two planks are put up with one end on the ground and the other on a beam in the house, about ten feet above the ground, in a slanting direction, one on one side of the beam, and the other on the other side, so that they can go up on one side and down on the other. To do this is the outward form of crossing the spirit-river.

If it is done successfully, all is well, and they proceed on their journey. If, however, a person should actually fall from one of these planks, it is a sure sign that he will die in a year or so. They formerly believed this to be so, but about twelve years ago a man did fall off, and did die within a year, so then they were certain of it. Having come to the place of the departed spirits, they quietly hunt for the spirits of their living friends, and when they find what other spirits possess them, they begin battle and attempt to take them and are generally successful. Only a few men descend to the spirit-world, but during the fight the rest of the people present keep up a very great noise by singing, pounding on sticks and drums, and in similar ways encourage those engaged in battle. Having obtained the spirits which they wish, they wrap them up or pretend to do so, so that they look like a great doll, and bring them back to the world and deliver them to their proper owners, who receive them with great joy and sometimes with tears of gratitude. At other times they go through other ceremonies somewhat different. This form has now mostly ceased among the Twanas, but retains its hold among a large share of the Clallams. The Christian Indians profess wholly to have given it up.

Black Tamahnous Mask.

Third. The Tamahnous for the sick. When a person is very sick, they think that the spirit of some bad animal, as the crow, bluejay, wolf, bear, or similar treacherous creature, has entered the individual and is eating away the life. This has been sent by a bad medicine-man, and it is the business of the good medicine-man to draw this out, and he professes to do it with his incantations. With a few friends who sing and pound on sticks, he works over the patient in various ways.

This is the most difficult belief for the Indian to abandon, for, while there is a religious idea in it, there is also much of superstition connected with it. As the Indian Agent at Klamath, Oregon, once wrote: “It requires some thing more  than a mere resolution of the will to overcome it.” “I do not believe in it now,” said a Spokane Indian, “but if I should become very sick, I expect I should want an Indian doctor.” It will take time and education to eradicate this idea. It is the only part of tamahnous, which I think an Indian can hold and be a Christian, because it is held partly as a superstition and not wholly as a religion. Some white, ignorant persons are superstitious and, at the same time, are Christians. The bad spirit which causes the sickness is called a bad tamahnous. Soon after I first came here, we spent several evenings in discussing the qualifications of church membership, the main difference of opinion centering on this subject of tamahnous over the sick. I took the same position then that I do now, and facts seem to agree thereto; for, among the Yakamas, Spokanes, and Dakotas, who have stood as Christians many years through strong trials, have been some who have not wholly abandoned it, it remaining apparently as a superstition and not a religion.

Additional information can be gleaned from the book Life at Puget Sound: with sketches of travel in Washington Territory, British Columbia, Oregon & California (Caroline C. Leighton,1884), which details some cultural practices centered around the concept of “tamahnous”:

AUGUST 2, 1865.

We went this morning to an Indian Tamáhnous (incantation), to drive away the evil spirits from a sick man. He lay on a mat, surrounded by women, who beat on instruments made by stretching deer-skin over a frame, and accompanied the noise thus produced by a monotonous wail. Once in a while it became quite stirring, and the sick man seemed to be improved by it. Then an old man crept in stealthily, on all-fours, and, stealing up to him, put his mouth to the flesh, here and there, apparently sucking out the disease.

APRIL 30, 1866.

In the winter we were told, that, when the spring came fully on, the Indians would have the "Red Tamáhnous," which means "love." A little, gray old woman appeared yesterday morning at our door, with her cheeks all aglow, as if her young blood had returned. Besides the vermilion lavishly displayed on her face, the crease at the parting of her hair was painted the same color. Every article of clothing she had on was bright and new. I looked out, and saw that no Indian had on any thing but red. Even old blind Charley, whom we had never seen in any thing but a black blanket, appeared in a new one of scarlet.

NOVEMBER 20, 1866.

To-day we met on the beach Tleyuk (Spark of Fire), a young Indian with whom we had become acquainted. Instead of the pleasant “ Klahowya” (How do you do?), with which he was accustomed to greet us, he took no notice of us whatever. On coming nearer, we saw hideous streaks of black paint on his face, and on various parts of his body, and inquired what they meant. His English was very meagre; but he gave us to understand, in a few hoarse gutturals, that they meant hostility and danger to any one that interfered with him. We noticed afterwards other Indians, with dark, threatening looks, and daubed with black paint, gathering from different directions. The old light-keeper was launching his boat to cross over to the spit, and we turned to him for an explanation. He warned us to keep away from the Indians, as this was the time of the “Black Tamáhnous,” when they call up all their hostility to the whites. He pointed to some Indian children, who had a white elk-horn, like a dwarf white man, stuck up in the sand to throw stones at. I had noticed for the last few days, when I met them in the narrow paths in the woods, that they stopped straight before me, obliging me to turn aside for them.

These practices invoking, venerating, and practicing “tamahnous” were directly targeted by the Canadian government, as seen in the third section of the 1876 Indian Act, a totalitarian law of repression which declared that:

“Every Indian or other person who engages in or assists in celebrating the Indian festival known as the "Potlatch" or in the Indian dance known as the "Tamanawas" is guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than six nor less than two months in any gaol or other place of confinement; and every Indian or persons who encourages ... an Indian to get up such a festival ... shall be liable to the same Punishment.”

Today the word (and its many spellings) lends itself to a variety of place names and institutes:

Tomahnous Peak, located on the southeast side of the Tatshenshini River, on the divide between Tomahnous Creek and the Tkope River in British Columbia.

Tamanawis Secondary is a public secondary school located in in Surrey, British Columbia.

Tamanawas Falls forms a broad curtain where Cold Spring Creek thunders over a 33.5 meter (110-foot) lava cliff near the eastern base of Mount Hood in Oregon.

Tamanos Mountain is a 2,069.5 meter (6,790-foot) summit located in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington.

The Tamahnous Theatre Workshop Society (later Tamahnous Theatre) in Vancouver, British Columbia was founded in 1971 by John Gray.  It specialized in experimental theatre, particularly collective creation. Following the theatrical principles of Polish director Jerzy Grotowsky, Tamahnous (a Chilcotin work for magic), experimented with form and focused on inner experience realized through visual images. By 1981, Tamahnous had produced 38 plays, 21 of which were original. The first shows were performed in the Vancouver Arts Centre. When Larry Lillo succeeded John Gray in 1974, the company relocated to the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. The company eventually closed in the mid-90s, but the Tamahnous Archives are housed at Simon Fraser University Library in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Amote

AMOTE

[a-MO'-teh] or [a-MU-tee],  occasionally corrupted into [al-mo'-ta] — noun.

Meaning: Strawberry (plant or fruit)

Origin: Chinook amuti; Clatsop tl’amōte, “strawberry”.

Fragaria chiloensis, the ‘beach strawberry’ or ‘coastal strawberry’, is one of two species of wild strawberries that were hybridized to create the modern garden strawberry. The plant’s natural range is the Pacific Ocean coast, from Alaska to California, though migratory birds have dispersed the plant from the Pacific coast of North America to the mountains of Hawaii, Chile, and Argentina.

In addition to serving as a food source, the whole strawberry plant, including leaves and roots, can be used for purposes of cleansing the system, both a blood purifier and blood builder; the wild strawberry is a laxative, diuretic and astringent, and the leaves and berries are rich in iron as well as contain small amounts of magnesium, potassium and sodium.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Klahanie

KLAHANIE

[KLA'-ha-nie], [KLA'-a-ni], or occasionally [klagh-anie'] — adverb

Meaning: Out; outside; outdoors; without; exterior.

Origin: Chinook  tlakhani “out”; “outside”.

‘Klahanie’ (sometimes rendered as ‘klahani’, ‘klahhanie’, or ‘klaghanie’) means ‘outside’, but can be used to describe a variety of actions relating to the external, such as “mamook klahanie okoke” (put that outside), "chako klahanie" (to emerge from; to come out from; to be delivered), and "mahsh klahanie" (to throw out; eject). One mgiht be eager to get "klahanie kopa house" (out of the house) for a bit, or someone might suggest  "klatawa nesika klahanie kopa town" (let us go away from the city) as a prelude to a camping trip. Be careful with your phrasing though. If you’re “klahanie”, you’re ‘outside’, but to “klatawa klahanie” or “go klahanie”, it can mean you’re on your way to a “klahanie house” (restroom; outhouse).

Klahanie is often used in place names for “the great outdoors”; There’s a Klahanie Road on the way to Whistler, BC, a Klahanie Lodge in Port Angeles, Washington, and Klahanie, Washington is planned community between the cities of Sammamish and Issaquah.

Klahanie was also the title of a popular 35 minute-long TV series on the CBC about the wilderness and outdoor activities, while also taking viewers to see some of the flora and fauna of some of the most beautiful and inaccessible parts of the world. Attention was also given to the subject of environmental conservation and protection, as well as to skills required for survival in some of the more rugged realms of nature in the world. Originating in Vancouver, BC and produced by Andy Snider, the longtime popular program aired from 1967-1978, first being hosted by  Bob Fortune [1967-1972] and later by Don White [1972-1978].

Intro to Klahanie (1973)

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Illahee

ILLAHEE

[IL'-la-hie] or occasionally [ilee-ee]  — noun.

Meaning:  Country, land, ground, earth, region, district, soil, dirt, the place where one resides.

Origin: Chinook, ilahekh  ‘land’, ‘earth’ < From a Lower Chinook stem -lkh, preserved intact in the Kathlamet and Upper Chinook forms ilkh 'land'; contracted in Lower Chinook due to the presence of a following accented vowel: thus, ilíi 'land, country'

Sometimes rendered as ‘illahie’, ‘illahe’, or in the case of Grand Ronde Chinook Jargon, ‘ili'i’, the word encompasses concepts like “land”, "earth”, and "country", and lends itself to a number of terms related to these concepts.

A “stick illahee” (forest) differed from a “tupso illahee” (prairie; pasture), while “kloshe illahee” has a similar meaning, but could also be used to mean a garden, a plot of land, a farm, or a ranch. The phrase “saghallie illahie” (mountain; highland) would later take one the additional meaning of  “sacred ground” and even “Heaven” as seen in the Christian neologisms "Saghalie Tyee yaka Illahee" (God, His Country) and "Keekwullie Illahee" (Hell).

A graveyard or cemetery was referred to as a “memaloose illahee”, while explorers would mark "tzum illahee" (surveyed land) on their maps, and one could refer to something as “hyiu illahie kopa” (dirty), or state "okoke illahee yaka hyas kloshe" (this land is very good).

Of course, “illahee” could refer to the land in both a physical and a political senses; someone might ask "kah mika illahee?" (where is your country? where do you come from?), since Illahee could also be used to denote "delate yaka illahee" (one's native land), such as "Boston Illahee" (United States), "Passaiooks Illahee" (France), "King George Illahee" or “Kingchauch Illahee" (England). It is worth noting that, as far as members of the First Nations were concerned, all other white Europeans came from “Dutchman Illahee” or “Dutchman yaka illahee” as they commonly expressed it.

Within Cascadia, “illahee” could also be used to specify specific areas, such as "siwash illahee" (First Nations territory; Reservation), or even more specifically, “Chinook Illahee” would be the term for the Chinook-speaking region or the land of the Chinook people (the lower Columbia)

Of course, one could also go the opposite direction and apply illahee to big-picture concepts, such as "konaway okoke illahee" (the world) and "konaway illahee konaway kah" (the universe).

The word ‘illahee’ and its variations lends itself to a number of names in Cascadia:

The MV Illahee was a Steel Electric Class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries which served on the inter-island route in the San Juan Islands.

The entire Steel Electric class was withdrawn from service on November 20, 2007 due to hull corrosion issues. In the summer of 2009, the Illahee and her sisters were sold to Eco Planet Recycling, Inc. of Chula Vista, California.

In August, 2009 the ferry was towed out of Eagle Harbor and was scrapped in Ensenada, Mexico.

Illahe, Oregon is an unincorporated community located in the Klamath Mountains along the Rogue River about 13 kilometers (8 miles) upriver from Agness, Oregon. The area was home to Takelma people, then to white and Karok settlers, before becoming part of the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest. In the 21st century, it is a stopping place for hikers, boaters, and other visitors. The area has a riverside lodge and a nearby campground, both named Illahe.

Illahee, Washington is an unincorporated community that lays between Bremerton and Silverdale. The Port of Illahee community dock was built around 1916 to serve the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet, and in later years this port was used by the United States Navy to demagnetize ships.

Illahee State Park is an 82-acre (33 ha) Washington state park located in the hamlet of Illahee, just north of eastern Bremerton, on Port Orchard Bay, and is part of the Washington State Park System. The park was established when Kitsap County donated 13 acres to the state in 1934. The park's old-growth stand is home to one of the nation's oldest Pacific yews, which has been standing for approximately 400 years.

The Illahe Vineyards and Winery, located near Salem, Oregon, is an 80-acre vineyard in the Willamette Valley. Committed to dry agriculture and responsible water practices, the winery does not utilize electricity or machinery, and is one of Oregon’s few horse-powered vineyards, utilizing a team of Percheron draft horses to mow and deliver grapes to the winery at harvest.

Other locations include Illahee Meadows, which can be found 22 kilometers (13.6 miles) northeast of Clinton, British Columbia, and Illahee Elementary School is located in Camas, Washington.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Sitkum

SITKUM

[SIT'-kum] —  noun, adjective.

Meaning: Half; half of something; part of something; the middle.

Origin:  From Chinookan; both inflected (noun) and uninflected (particle) n-shitkum ‘I am half’; a-shitkum ‘she is half’; shítkum '(at the upper) half'; Clatsop asitko,

The word sitkum is used to describe either of two equal or corresponding parts into which something is or can be divided. This is best seen in the term for a "sitkum dolla" (half dollar; fifty cents), though it is also be applied to varying degrees of, or corresponding parts into which something is or can be divided, as seen in "elip sitkum" (more than half) and "tenas sitkum" (less than half; quarter; a small part of something)

Perhaps the largest use of the word sitkum was related to seasons, such as “sitkum kopa waum illahee” (midsummer), and times of the say, as seen in "elip sitkum sun" (forenoon), “sitkum sun” (noon; midday), “kimtah sitkum sun" (afternoon) and “sitkum polaklie" (midnight; half a night). It even appears in the locational descriptor “kah sun mitlite kopa sitkum sun" (south).

The word sitkum also lends it name to Sitkum Glacier, located on the west slopes of Glacier Peak, immediately south of Scimitar Glacier in Washington. Sitkum is also the name of an unincorporated community in Coos County, about 43.5 km (27 miles) north of the hamlet of Remote in the Southern Oregon Coast Range near the East Fork Coquille River. 

In 1872, John Alva Harry and his wife Chloe (Cook) Harry set up a roadhouse that they called ‘Sitkum’—later known as the Halfway House— as a stagecoach stop near a point halfway between Roseburg and Coos City on the Coos Bay Wagon Road. The establishment was a combination restaurant, tavern, rooming house, and telegraph station where travelers could stop to eat while horses were changed or spend the night.

James Laird Halfway House in Sitkum, Oregon

In the following years the small citizenry of Sitkum would also build a post office and grade school.

Sitkum Post Office

James, Daniel, and Nancy Belle (Harry) Laird property. Sitkum Post Office located in Laird house.

In 1915, the mail stages switched to a less steep road along the Middle Fork of the Coquille River. This route was favored by more and more traffic, and eventually there was little need for travelers’ accommodations in Sitkum. Even so, the Halfway House at Sitkum would stay in operation until 1964.

Today there is little left of the community, and the Sitkum School was converted into a residence, though the former teacher's house and the gym still exist on the grounds.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Klonas

KLONAS 

[klo'-NASS] — adverb. 

Meaning: Perhaps; probably; doubtful; might; may; maybe so; I do not know; who knows

Origin: Chinook tlunas ‘maybe,’ ‘don’t know’

Klonas (sometimes spelled as klonass) is a word used as an expression of indecision, uncertainty, or doubt in the mind of the speaker, and in many ways equivalent to the Spanish term quién sabe, “who knows?”.

A conditional or suppositive meaning is given to a sentence by the word ‘klonas’, though it should be noted that ‘klonas’ is used differently from ‘spose’ (suppose; if), something which is sometimes confused by novice learners of Chinook Wawa.

An unknown person would simply be identified as “klonas klaksta” (somebody), while finding your hotel room requires looking for a specific “klonas kunsih” (number).

If someone were to ask you if it was going to rain today, you could respond “klonas halo” (probably not) or "klonas nowitka" ( probably so, perhaps so; maybe). If both of something could equally apply to a situation, one could simply say “klonas klonas” (either-or).

Examples:

“Kah mika kahpho?” (Where is your brother?)

“Klonas.” (I don't know; who knows?)

"Klonas yaka chako tomollo." (Perhaps he will come tomorrow)

“Klonas nika klatawa.” (Perhaps I shall go; maybe I’ll go)

SLAHAL

GAMES OF THE FIRST NATIONS: SLAHAL

Slahal or Lahal (with slight spelling and pronunciation variations including Sla-hal, Slhahal, Lahall, and Lahalle), is a gambling game of the indigenous peoples of Cascadia, especially along the Salish Sea, which combines song, sacred ritual, intense competition and guesswork.

Known by titles such as ‘the bone game’ (from the playing pieces), ‘the stick game’ (from the scoring pieces), ‘hand game’, ‘gambling game’, or ‘bloodless war game’, it also has regionally specific names in different languages and dialects; in the area around the Burrard Inlet of British Columbia it is often called Slahal or Slhahal, as well as Sk’ak’eltx among the Squamish, while in the north of Vancouver Island, it is called A'la'xwa (sometimes rendered as Lahal) by the Kwakwaka'wakw, and in the eastern Chilcotin Plateau and the Cariboo Plateau it is known as Sllekméw'es among the Secwepemc people.

HISTORY

Oral histories of the First Nations hold that Slahal is an ancient game, played since time immemorial. Among the Coast Salish oral tradition, The Creator gave ‘the stick game’ to humanity at the beginning of time as a way to settle disputes and serve as an alternative to war.

Another story holds that at the beginning of time humans and animals were in direct competition for dwindling food. The Creator gave humans and animals a game to play — Slahal — and decreed that whoever won the game could eat the other from then on. The two sides played against each other, but humans were gradually losing, down to their last stick, they beseeched the Creator to take pity on them. So the Great Spirit let humans win the game, but under the condition that they follow four laws — to turn away from greed, lust, hate, and jealousy. In doing so, the Great Spirit  gave the people a gift, to show them who they were, and from then on people have used the game to settle disputes through “bloodless war.”

Physical evidence indicates that the game dates to before the end of the last Ice Age, with a set of 14,000-year-old bone playing pieces, the oldest found yet, discovered along with other cultural artifacts in Douglas County in the late 1980’s. Today these pieces reside with the Washington State Historical Society Museum in Tacoma.

The game serves multiple roles in culture of the First Nations, being a form of entertainment, a means of economic gain through gambling, and serving as a common way to engage with others in the community and with peoples across territorial boundaries in the exchange of goods, information and even lands and people. In addition to conflict resolution between groups, Slahal also played at many occasions, celebrations, and gatherings, serving as a way of healing and bringing people together.

In historic times, prizes played for could be valuables such as clothing, blankets, shawls, horses, buckskin, and trade items, though today prizes can be anything that is of special value, ranging from traditional craft items to money, televisions, game consoles, and many modern accouterments.

The rules and methods of how to play have changed throughout the years, and have some regional variation. Due to the historic suppression of cultural ways, the game was almost lost, though today it has been restored to cultural prominence thanks to the work of anthropologists working with elders of the First Nations. The rules listed below are an approximation based on multiple sources.

RULES

The game is played with two opposing teams of five or six players each, though there can be more if desired, so long as the teams are of equal size. Some sources say that the game always starts with an open traditional game where the men play against the women.

There are two pairs of ‘bones’ used in the game. Traditionally these were cut and polished shin bones from the foreleg of a deer or other animal, though wood or antler are not uncommon material substitutes. Regardless of what the pieces are made of, they must be small enough to hide in one’s hand, and are not noticeably different except in colour, with one pair (sometimes referred to as ‘white’ or ‘female’) being plain and unmarked, and the other pair (sometimes referred as ‘black’ or ‘male’) being carved or marked in some way with a black stripe or similar pattern, usually along the middle of the piece. Some teams travel with their own ‘bones’, which they believe are lucky, not unlike modern tabletop gamers who might own a set of ‘lucky’ dice.

The game also uses an equal number of ‘Tally Sticks’ (sometimes called Guessing Sticks), typically between six and fourteen, depending on traditions and rules, with ten or twelve being the most common, which are used for keeping score, and are evenly divided between the teams at the beginning of the game. These are commonly painted or otherwise marked (often half in one set of colors and the other half in another) and/or made of different types of wood.

Additionally there is a ‘King Stick’ or ‘Kick Stick’ (sometimes referred to as the ‘King Pin’), which is an extra stick, usually longer and specially marked (sometimes painted both colors, one color at each end) which is initially played for by each team’s elected leader, who are typically referred to as ‘doctors’. This initial contest, analogous to a coin toss in many sports, can either be through one ‘doctor’ holding a set of the ‘bones’ (one marked and one unmarked) and the opposing team’s ‘doctor’ guessing which hand the marked ‘bone’ is in, or decided via a simple rock-paper-scissors style decision. The winner (in this example referred to as ‘Team A’)  is awarded the ‘King Stick’ and starts the game with control of the ‘bones’.

The game begins with each team dividing the ‘Tally Sticks’ evenly between them. Team A and Team B arrange themselves in two straight line formations where players sit on the ground or on benches, each team facing the other with their set of ‘Tally Sticks’ laid out in front of them. Each round a team’s ‘doctor’ will decide which two players (seated next to each other)  will hold the ‘bones’ when they are in possession, and which team member will be the ‘shooter’ when it is their turn to guess the location of the unmarked ‘bones’.

On Team A, the two players selected by the ‘doctor’ take two bones each, one marked and one unmarked, and conceal them in their hands. The ‘doctor’ of Team A then begins a song, accompanied by drums (in the past drums were rarely used, with rattles, horns, and a longboard and sticks) as well as the pounding of sticks by the other members of the team to keep a beat, while the two players have a minute or so to secretly swap the bones back and forth between their hands and each other (either behind their back or under a scarf) in rhythm with the music, while the ‘shooter’ of Team B tries to observe and track the position of the two unmarked bones. The musical accompaniment is sometimes used to taunt and distract the opposing team, and is also often combined with occasional yells or random body gestures meant to disrupt the concentration of Team B’s ‘shooter’.

After the elapsed time, or when signaled by the ‘doctor’ of Team B that they are ready to guess, the players of Team A then hold their closed hands out in front of them, presenting them to the designated ‘shooter’ of Team B.

At this point, Team B’s ‘shooter’ must guess (or suss out) the location of the two unmarked ‘bones’ based on one of four possible permutations:

The ‘shooter’ on Team B then makes their guess as to where the location of the unmarked ‘bones’ are hiding by pointing with one hand.

HAND GESTURES

Pointing to the shooter’s right indicates they think both UNMARKED ‘bones’ are in the left hands.

Pointing to the shooter’s left indicates they think both UNMARKED ‘bones’ are in the right hands.

Pointing downward indicates they think both UNMARKED ‘bones’ are in the “inside” hands.

Pointing upward indicates they think both UNMARKED ‘bones’ are in the “outside” hands.

Often the ‘shooter’ will make a ‘fake shot’  by moving their hands quickly, either turning back the finger or not making the complete gesture. This is done in an effort to get into the opposing player’s head by tricking those over-eager to show the wrong selection into revealing the position of the unmarked ‘bone’.

If the ‘shooter’ of Team B does not manage to guess the location of either of the two unmarked bones, their team must surrender two tally sticks to Team A, who will then continue the game by hiding the ‘bones’ once again.

If the shooter of Team B manages to guess the location of only ONE UNMARKED ‘bone’, their team must surrender one of the Tally Sticks to Team A, who will then continue the game by hide the ‘bones’ once again and Team B will have another chance to guess which hand the remaining UNMARKED ‘bone’ is.

If the shooter of Team B guesses the location of BOTH UNMARKED ‘bones’, then their team wins control of the ‘bones’ and it is now Team A’s turn to guess.

The game continues back and forth in this manner until one team has won all of the ‘Tally Sticks’ from the other team, with the ‘King Stick’ being the last surrendered.

The additional rules are fairly simple: 

Players can only play for one team, and may not switch teams until the end of the game, though in important competitions a player must stay with their own team.

When a player is ready to show the ‘bones’, they must show them as they are, and cannot change their position, otherwise the ‘bone’ are forfeited to control of the opposing team.

A game can also be forfeited in the event of an opposing team member holding two bones in one hand when the ‘shooter’ points.

OTHER NOTES

It is customary that during play, spectators will often place bets on teams, or individual matches within the game between one ‘shooter’ and the other team's ‘bone’ hiders.

While there is no official time limit for games, average matches typically last roughly an hour and a half, though some games played for high stakes could last for several hours, or even days, with the “Tally Sticks’ passing from one side to the other many times as one team nearly wins, then loses their sticks again to the other side, and back again, before the ‘King Stick’ is finally won. In these serious high stakes games, in which the teams often play for pots of thousands of dollars, a judge will be appointed to keep the contest fair.

PLAYING AT HOME OR ON THE ROAD

For those wishing to play an impromptu game, or if they lack proper equipment, the ‘Tally Sticks’ can be substituted with pens or pencils, and the ‘bones’ can be substituted with large rubber erasers.

If there are only two players available, then the rules can be simplified, with fewer ‘Tally Sticks’, only one pair of ‘bones’ used, and the guess limited to right or left.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Kull

KULL

[kul]  — adjective.

Meaning: Hard (in substance); solid; hard to do; tough; difficult.

Origin: From a Chinookan particle q’ul ‘strong’; q’ul-q’ul  ‘strong’, ‘hard’, ‘too difficult’.   

A word used to describe making something “hyas kull” (tight; fast), or changing the state of something such as "mamook kull" (to harden; to cause to harden) and "chako kull" (to become hard), as seen in “kull snass" (ice) and “kull tatoosh" (cheese) describing the solidifying state of rain and milk, respectively. Conversely, the expressions ”halo kull” (easy; not difficult) and “wake kull” (soft; tender) could also be used as alternative ways to describe something that is ‘soft’ or ‘not hard’.

It is occasionally seen in expressions like “hyas kull spose mamook” (it is very hard to do so), or describing a substance, like the “kull stick” (oak), which could be used as a byword for any sort of hardwood in Cascadia.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Lemooto

LEMOOTO

[le-MOO'-to] or [lam'-MU-to] — noun.

Meaning: Sheep; mutton.

Origin: French, les moutons, “sheep”

Sometimes spelled as lemoto or limoto, it refers to sheep, and naturally all things related to them, such as “man lemooto” (ram), "klootchman lemooto" (ewe),  “tenas lemooto” (lamb), and "lemooto house" (fold, sheepfold). The word was also used for “mutton”, though if one wanted to specify, they could say “lemooto itlwillie” or “lemooto yaka itlwillie".

The English word “sheep” was also used from time to time, such as in “hiyu sheep” (flock), “sheep yaka tupso lemooto yakso” (wool), and the heavily English “sheep yaka meat” (mutton)

The Sound of the Yurok language (Numbers, Sentences & Phrases)

Yurok (also Chillula, Mita, Pekwan, Rikwa, Sugon, Weitspek, and Weitspekan) is an Algic language. It is the traditional language of the Yurok of Del Norte County and Humboldt County on the northwest coast of California. The name Yurok comes from the Karuk ‘yuruk’, literally meaning 'downriver'. The Yurok traditional name for themselves is Puliklah, from ‘pulik’ (‘downstream') + -’la’ ('people of'), thus equivalent in meaning to the Karuk name by which they came to be known in English.

Yurok is distantly related to its neighbor Wiyot, and to languages belonging to the Algonquian language family spoken across central and eastern North America, including Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibwe, and many others. Linguists believe that Wiyot, Yurok, and all the Algonquian languages descend from a single common ancestor spoken thousands of years ago, perhaps somewhere in present-day eastern Washington or Oregon or northern Idaho. The relations and history of these languages are areas of active research among linguists, archaeologists, and historians.

Yurok nouns and verbs are assembled and change their forms in patterns that are sometimes elaborate, expressing a variety of meanings. Unlike English, where most nouns change their form to make them plural (cat vs. cats, for example, or man vs. men), Yurok nouns usually do not change their form: puesee can mean "cat" or "cats", and 'yoch can mean "boat" or "boats". However, a very few nouns do change their form:

mewah  mewahsegoh  perey  pegerey  wer'yers wer'yernerk  huuek huueksoh

“Boy” “Boys” “Old Woman” “Old Women “Girl” “Girls” “Child” “Children”

However, unlike English, Yurok nouns do sometimes change their form to refer to locations:

mech  mecheek  yoch  yoncheek "

“Fire” “in the fire” “boat” “in a boat”

Verbs, meanwhile, can change depending on the subject:

kooychkwok’ kooychkwoh  kooychkwoom' 

“I buy it.” “we buy it” “you buy it”

"kooychkwoow'  kooychkwom’  kooychkwohl

“You (plural) buy it.” “He/She buys it.” “They buy it”

A fascinating aspect of the Yurok language, one that is quite unlike English, is the intricate way that certain meaningful elements combine in the formation of verbs. The table below illustrates typical combinations of elements, used to form verbs with distinct but related meanings. Notice the elements heem- "fast", kwomhl- "back", pkw- "out from an enclosed area", and yohp- "in a circle", to which are added -ech- "go" and -o'rep- "run":

heemechok heemo'repek  kwomhlechok kwomhlo'repek

“I hurry” “I run quickly” “I return” I run back”

pkwechok pkwo'repek' yohpechok'  yohpo'repek' 

“I emerge” “I run out of an enclosed area” “I go in a circle” “I run in a circle”

Yurok sentence patterns are quite different from English patterns; in English, most sentences contain at least a verb (a word like walk, see, know, etc., usually naming an action, experience, situation, etc.) and a subject (indicating who did the action, experienced a situation, etc.): The horse walked, or My teacher sees you, or Your children love pie. But a verb is enough in Yurok, and many Yurok sentences consist of a single word — a verb:

Hlmeyorkwochek' Kwerykweryochem'. 'Sleryhlkerp'erk'

I'm afraid of you.' ‘You are whistling.’ ‘I’m going to blow my nose.’

In English, the basic word order of subject, verb, and object (in sentences that have objects, for example indicating who or what an action was done to) is usually fixed. In Yurok the order of these elements is flexible, depending largely on emphasis and discourse structure. For example, if the context is unambiguous, either of the following sentences might be interchangeable:

Kue pegerk helomey' Helomey' kue pegerk

[article] man to dance - 3sg.infl to dance - 3sg.infl [article] man

The man dances. the man dances.

Compared to English, Yurok word order possibilities are more flexible in sentences like these, but it is not always straightforward to learn the emphasis and discourse patterns that determine which order is used.

One important way Yurok and English sentence patterns differ is that Yurok has a large class of preverbs: short words, typically, that express relative time, location, negation, and relations between events, among many other meanings. As the name suggests, preverbs occur before the verb in a sentence. In the following sentences, for example, the preverb keech means something recently started happening and is still happening, the preverb kee means something will happen in the future, and the preverb combination keech + ho means something has already happened (and is still true).

Keech keepuen Kee kochpoksek' Kues keech ho neskwechoom'? Kues keech ho neskwechoom'?'

“It’s winter (now)” “I will think it over.” “I will think it over.” “When did you arive?”

Preverbs are used in almost every Yurok sentence, and it is common for two, three, or even more to be combined in a sentence. The idiomatic use of preverb combinations is an indication of real fluency in the language.

Decline of the language began during the California Gold Rush, due to the influx of new settlers and the diseases they brought with them. Native American boarding schools initiated by the United States government with the intent of incorporating the native populations of America into mainstream American society increased the rate of decline of the language. The language was officially declared extinct with the death of Archie Thompson, the last native speaker, on March 26, 2013

However, a language revival program The program to revive Yurok has been lauded as the most successful language revitalization program in California. As of 2014, there are six schools in Northern California that teach Yurok - 4 high schools and 2 elementary schools.

The last known native speaker, Archie Thompson, was the last of 20 elders who helped revitalize the language over the last few decades, after academics in the 1990s predicted it would be extinct by 2010. He made recordings of the language that were archived by UC Berkeley linguists and the tribe, spent hours helping to teach Yurok in community and school classrooms, and welcomed apprentice speakers to probe his knowledge." Linguists at UC Berkeley began the Yurok Language Project in 2001. Professor Andrew Garrett and Dr. Juliette Blevins collaborated with tribal elders on a Yurok dictionary that has been hailed as a national model. The Yurok Language Project has gone much more in depth than just a printed lexicon, however. The dictionary is available online and fully searchable. It is also possible to search an audio dictionary - a repository of audio clips of words and short phrases.

As of February 2013, there were over 300 basic Yurok speakers, 60 with intermediate skills, 37 who are advanced, and 17 who are considered conversationally fluent. As of 2014, nine people were certified to teach Yurok in schools. Since Yurok, like many other Native American languages, uses a master-apprentice system to train up speakers in the language, having even nine certified teachers would not be possible without a piece of legislation passed in 2009 in the state of California that allows indigenous tribes the power to appoint their own language teachers.

Other resources with more detailed information include R. H. Robins's book The Yurok language: Texts, grammar, lexicon (1958) and a Yurok Language Project booklet Basic Yurok grammar (2010), which can be download here.

The Sound of the Salish Language (Numbers, Greetings, Phrases & Story)

The Salish or Séliš language, also known as Kalispel–Pend d'oreille, Kalispel–Spokane–Flathead, or, to distinguish it from the Salish language family to which it gave its name, Montana Salish, is a Salishan language with dialects spoken (as of 2005) by about 64 elders of the Flathead Nation in north central Montana and of the Kalispel (Qalispé) in northeastern Washington, and by another 50 elders (as of 2000) of the Spokane (Npoqínišcn) of Washington.

As with many other languages of northern North America, Salish is polysynthetic; like other languages of the Mosan language area, there is no clear distinction between nouns and verbs. Salish is famous for native translations that treat all lexical Salish words as verbs or clauses in English—for instance, translating a two-word Salish clause that would appear to mean "I-killed a-deer" into English as I killed it. It was a deer.

As of 2012, Salish is "critically endangered" in Montana and Idaho according to UNESCO, with all native speakers being elderly. However efforts are being made to revive it: it is taught and used as a language of instruction at a number of regional schools, like the Nkwusm Salish Immersion School, in Arlee, Montana.

Public schools in Kalispell, Montana offer language classes, a language nest, and intensive training for adults. An online Salish Language Tutor and online Kalispel Salish curriculum are available. A dictionary, "Seliš nyoʔnuntn: Medicine for the Salish Language," was expanded from 186 to 816 pages in 2009; children's books and language CDs are also available.

The Salish Kootenai College, offers Salish language courses, and trains Salish language teachers at its Native American Language Teacher Training Institute as a part of its ongoing efforts to preserve the language, and the college even broadcasts programs in Salish on the Salish Kootenai College TV station. As of May 2013, the organization Yoyoot Skʷkʷimlt ("Strong Young People") is teaching language classes in high schools.

Salish-language Christmas carols are popular for children's holiday programs, which have been broadcast over the Salish Kootenai College television station, and Salish-language karaoke has become popular at the annual Celebrating Salish Conference, held in Spokane, Washington. As of 2013, many signs on U.S. Route 93 in the Flathead Indian Reservation include the historic Salish and Kutenai names for towns, rivers, and streams. The Missoula City Council is seeking input from the Salish-Pend d'Oreille Culture Committee regarding appropriate Salish-language signage for the City of Missoula.

The Sound of the Tlingit language (Numbers, Greetings, Phrases & Story)

The Tlingit language is spoken by the Tlingit people in Southeast Alaska from Yakutat (Yaakwdáat, Yàkwdât) south to Portland Canal, and from British Columbia into south-central Yukon Territory between Tagish and Kaska northward. The Tlingit language is distantly related to Eyak and the Athabaskan languages as a branch of the Na-Dene language family, and is part of the larger Dené–Yeniseian language family. Although the name is spelled “Tlingit” in English it is actually pronounced closer to “Klinkit”. This is due to the spelling and the pronunciation in English having two different approximations of the voiceless lateral fricative [ɬ] spelled as either ł or l in Tlingit.

The history of Tlingit is poorly known, mostly because there is no written record until the first contact with Europeans around the 1790s. Documentation was sparse and irregular until the early 20th century. The language appears to have spread northward from the Ketchikan–Saxman area towards the Chilkat region since certain conservative features are reduced gradually from south to north. The shared features between the Eyak language, found around the Copper River delta, and Tongass Tlingit, near the Portland Canal, are all the more striking for the distances that separate them, both geographic and linguistic.

Tlingit word order is SOV when non-pronominal agent and object phrases both exist in the sentence. However, there is a strong urge to restrict the argument of the verb phrase to a single non-pronominal noun phrase, with any other phrases being extraposed from the verb phrase. If a noun phrase occurs outside of the verb phrase then it is typically represented in the verb phrase by an appropriate pronoun.

Despite not being a fusional language, Tlingit is still highly synthetic as an agglutinating language, and is even polysynthetic to some extent. The verb, as with all the Na-Dené languages, is characteristically incorporating. Nouns are in comparison relatively simple, with many being derived from verbs.

Extensive effort is being put into revitalization programs in Southeast Alaska to revive and preserve the Tlingit language and culture.

The Sound of the Nootka / Nuu-chah-nulth language (Numbers, Sentences, Phrases & Story)

Nuu-chah-nulth, also known as Nootka, is Wakashan language historically spoken on the west coast of Vancouver Island, from Barkley Sound to Quatsino Sound in British Columbia by the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples. Nuu-chah-nulth is a Southern Wakashan language related to Nitinaht and Makah.

It is the first language of the indigenous peoples of the Cascadian Coast to have documentary written materials describing it. In the 1780s, Captains Vancouver, Quadra, and other European explorers and traders frequented Nootka Sound and the other Nuu-chah-nulth communities, making reports of their voyages. From 1803–1805 John R. Jewitt, an English blacksmith, was held captive by chief Maquinna at Nootka Sound. He made an effort to learn the language, and in 1815 published a memoir with a brief glossary of its terms.

The Nuu-chah-nulth language contributed much of the vocabulary of the Chinook Jargon. It is thought that oceanic commerce and exchanges between the Nuu-chah-nulth and other Southern Wakashan speakers with the Chinookan-speaking peoples of the lower Columbia River led to the foundations of the trade jargon that became known as Chinook. Nootkan words in Chinook Jargon include hiyu ("many"), from Nuu-chah-nulth for "ten", siah ("far"), from the Nuu-chah-nulth for "sky".

A dictionary of the language, with some 7,500 entries, was created after 15 years of research. It is based on both work with current speakers and notes from linguist Edward Sapir, taken almost a century ago. The dictionary, however, is a subject of controversy, with a number of Nuu-chah-nulth elders questioning the author's right to disclose their language.

The provenance of the term "Nuu-chah-nulth", meaning "along the outside [of Vancouver Island]" dates from the 1970s, when the various groups of speakers of this language joined together, disliking the term "Nootka" (which means "go around" and was mistakenly understood to be the name of a place, which was actually called Yuquot). The name given by earlier sources for this language is Tahkaht; that name was used also to refer to themselves (the root aht means "people").

Translations of place names

Nuuchahnulth had a name for each place within their traditional territory. These are just a few still used to this day:

• hisaawista (esowista) – Captured by clubbing the people who lived there to death, Esowista Peninsula and Esowista Indian Reserve No. 3.

• Yuquot (Friendly Cove) – Where they get the north winds, Yuquot

• nootk-sitl (Nootka) – Go around.

• maaqtusiis – A place across the island, Marktosis

• kakawis – Fronted by a rock that looks like a container.

• kitsuksis – Log across mouth of creek

• opitsaht – Island that the moon lands on, Opitsaht

• pacheena – Foamy.

• tsu-ma-uss (somass) – Washing, Somass River

• tsahaheh – To go up.

• hitac`u (itatsoo) – Ucluelet Reserve.

• t’iipis – Polly’s Point.

• Tsaxana – A place close to the river.

• Cheewat – Pulling tide.

The Sound of the Haida language (Numbers, Greetings, Sentences & Phrases)

Haida (X̱aat Kíl, X̱aadas Kíl, X̱aayda Kil, Xaad kil) is the language of the Haida people, spoken in the Haida Gwaii archipelago off the coast of British Columbia and on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. An endangered language, Haida currently has 24 native speakers, though revitalization efforts are underway.

At the time of the European arrival at Haida Gwaii in 1774, it is estimated that Haida speakers numbered about 15,000. Epidemics soon led to a drastic reduction in the Haida population, which became limited to three villages: Masset, Skidegate, and Hydaburg. Positive attitudes towards assimilation combined with the ban on speaking Haida in residential schools led to a sharp decline in the use of the Haida language among the Haida people, and today almost all ethnic Haida use English to communicate.

Classification of the Haida language is a matter of controversy, with some linguists placing it in the Na-Dené language family and others arguing that it is a language isolate. Haida itself is split between Northern and Southern dialects, which differ primarily in phonology. The Northern Haida dialects have developed pharyngeal consonants, typologically uncommon sounds which are also found in some of the nearby Salishan and Wakashan languages.

The Haida sound system includes ejective consonants, glottalized sonorants, contrastive vowel length, and phonemic tone. The nature of tone differs between the dialects, and in Alaskan Haida it is primarily a pitch accent system. Syllabic laterals appear in all dialects of Haida, but are only phonemic in Skidegate Haida. Extra vowels which are not present in Haida words occur in nonsense words in Haida songs. There are a number of systems for writing Haida using the Latin alphabet, each of which represents the sounds of Haida differently.

While Haida has nouns and verbs, it does not have adjectives and has few true adpositions. English adjectives translate into verbs in Haida, for example 'láa "(to be) good", and English prepositional phrases are usually expressed with Haida "relational nouns", for instance Alaskan Haida dítkw 'side facing away from the beach, towards the woods'. Haida verbs are marked for tense, aspect, mood, and evidentiality, and person is marked by pronouns that are cliticized to the verb. Haida also has hundreds of classifiers. Haida has the rare direct-inverse word order type, where both SOV and OSV words orders occur depending on the "potency" of the subject and object of the verb. Haida also has obligatory possession, where certain types of nouns cannot stand alone and require a possessor.

Today most Haidas do not speak the Haida language. The language is listed as "critically endangered" in UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, with nearly all speakers elderly. As of 2003, most speakers of Haida are between 70 and 80 years of age, though they speak a "considerably simplified" form of Haida, and comprehension of the language is mostly limited to persons above the age of 50. The language is rarely used even among the remaining speakers and comprehenders.

The Haida have a renewed interest in their traditional culture, and are now funding Haida language programs in schools in the three Haida communities, though these have been ineffectual.  Haida classes are available in many Haida communities and can be taken at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Hydaburg. A Skidegate Haida language app is available for iPhone, based on a "bilingual dictionary and phrase collection comprised of words and phrases archived at the online Aboriginal language database FirstVoices.com."

In 2017 Kingulliit Productions began filming on SGaawaay K’uuna ("Edge of the Knife"), the first feature film to be acted entirely in dialects of the Haida language.

The Sound of the Chinook Jargon language (Numbers, Greetings & Story)

Chinook Wawa (also known as Chinuk Wawa or Chinook Jargon, and sometimes Chinook Lelang) is a nearly extinct pidgin trade language that bordered on being a creole language which served as a true lingua franca of the Cascadia bioregion for several hundred years.

Partly related to, but not the same as, the aboriginal language of the Chinook people, Chinook Wawa actually has its roots in earlier regional trade languages, like Haida Jargon or Nookta Jargon, which itself was a simplified version of Nuu-chah-nulth combined with words and elements of the different Wakashan, Salishan, Athapaskan, and Penutian languages. With the arrival of European explorers, trappers, and traders, many new words were added from French and English, with modifications made in pronunciation, using only those sounds that could be pronounced with ease by all speakers. Grammatical forms were reduced to their simplest expression, and variations in mood and tense conveyed only by adverbs or by the context. With a relatively small lexicon of only a few hundred words, it is not only easy to learn but possible to say almost anything with a little patience and poetic imagination.

During the fur trade in the early 19th century,  Chinook Wawa had more than 100,000 speakers, spreading from the lower Columbia River, first to other areas in modern Oregon and Washington, then British Columbia, and as far as Alaska and the Yukon Territory. It was used as a common trade language between the hundreds of indigenous tribes and nations from the region and was incorporated by early English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and other immigrants, pioneers, and traders who made the area their home, and naturally became the first language in multi-racial households and in multi-ethnic work environments such as canneries, lumberyards, and ranches where it remained the language of the workplace well into the middle of the 20th century.

HOW IS IT PRONOUNCED?

As a trade language, Chinook Wawa is by its very nature meant to be usable by people from many different linguistic backgrounds, so naturally, there is no "correct" pronunciation. An individual's pronunciation of a word was necessarily going to be dependent on that person's own language and dialect, be it English, French, Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth, Chinese, or even Hawaiian.

Furthermore, all published lexicons were created by English speakers influenced by standard English spelling methods (and, as everyone knows, there is no consistency at all in English spelling). Still, the wide variation in spellings for many words can give a clue to their potential variation in pronunciation, or for a pronunciation that falls "in-between" the sounds represented (i.e. hiyu / hyiu / hyo is one example, and tikegh / tikke / ticky is another). Though existent in Chinook Jargon, the consonant /r/ is rare, and English and French loan words, such as ‘rice’ and ‘merci’, have changed in their adoption to the Jargon, to ‘lice’ and ‘mahsie’, respectively.

CHINOOK WAWA TODAY.

As a result of deliberate measures of genocide and cultural suppression in the United States and Canada, aboriginal languages, including Chinook Wawa, were suppressed or outright banned, resulting in a decline of speakers. While Chinook Wawa has fallen from use in the late 20th century, it has lived on in many toponyms throughout Cascadia, within many indigenous languages, and in some regional English usage, to the point where most people are unaware that the word or name is originally from Chinook Wawa.

Chinuk Wawa was classified as extinct until the 2000s when it was revived, notably in 2014 with the release of Chinuk Wawa—As Our Elders Teach Us to Speak It by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, who have since launched the Chinuk Wawa Immersion Language Program. In 2018 a textbook for Chinook Jargon in Esperanto (La Chinuka Interlingvo Per Esperanto,] The Chinook Bridge-Language Using Esperanto) was published by Sequoia Edwards. In 2019 "Chinuk Wawa" became available as a language option on the fanfiction website Archive of Our Own. With a steadily growing interest in Cascadia and its history, Chinook Wawa is seeing a gradual resurgence.