Shuswap shorthand on birchbark

[Scott Tyler]

Hi Dave,
Another interesting historical tidbit about wawa.
Would it not be nice if that birch bark letter was tucked away in an 
archives some where.
tloosh nanich,
Scott

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Robertson" <ddr11 at UVIC.CA>
To: <CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 10:47 PM
Subject: Shuswap shorthand on birchbark


> This is an interesting eyewitness account by H.I. Smith, who visited the
> Kamloops area and even took photos of Jargon shorthand grave markers.  The
> letters he refers to below must have been in shorthand too.  Other pages
> of the article discuss the origin, introduction, and proud use of the
> shorthand by First Nations of the area.
>
> Some of you will be interested in his notes elsewhere in this photo-
> illustrated article about the trip by Le Jeune, Chief Louis, and
> Chief "Tciilxitca" to Europe in 1904.  --  Dave
>
> "On the night of Queen Victoria's
> jubilee day, the Indians near Kam-
> loops built a great fire on the peak
> of the mountain which stands guard
> over their reservation. It was a great
> surprise to us when we looked up and
> saw fire and smoke rising from the
> peak in the night, the mountain appearing
> like a great volcano; but it
> was only the result of days of labor
> on the part of these dusky but loyal
> subjects of the Queen. At that time
> they wrote several letters to Her Majesty
> on sheets of birchbark, using the
> Shuswap language, which they recorded
> in phonetic symbols. These
> letters were sent to the Queen by
> Father Le Jeune, and must have
> proved of interest to the sovereign of the lowly authors."
>
> Harlan I. Smith.  1909. "An American Oberammergau: The passion-play by
> American Indians". Putnam's & The Reader.  Pp. 294-303. (Quotation is from
> page 302)
>
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