question

[Mike Cleven]

At 05:00 PM 2/14/99 -0800, David Lewis wrote:
>Has anyone heard of the term "Oiliqua Chick"?  This is repeated in a letter
>from Alexander Hamilton to George Gibbs, 1856 and described as a:
>
>commodity, shellfish, trade item, nearly 3 inches long could be the
>largest, and exists in California and Washington Territory.
>
>Hamilton seemed very anxious to get ahold of any that Gibbs could find.
>
>Is this Dentalia or some other well known shellfish?

Sounds like it; they were a LOT more valuable than, say, clamshells.
"Hykwa" was the big kind of dentalium, and that "oil-" prefix is
reminiscent of "olhiyu" (for seal); does anyone known enough Nuu-chah-nulth
or Makah to give an opinion on the "ol-" prefix here.....maybe it has to do
with marine life?

Mike C.