question on "Siwash"

[phil cash cash]

I just recently joined the list and wanted to post this
question.  Is the CJ word siwash--an Indian or aborigine, a
savage--really a form of the French word "sauvage"?

At least among Sahaptin speakers, siwash is a deragatory term and
is used as a reference to describe their upriver neighbors the Nez
Perce.  The derived Nez Perce form, if correct, may be "cIiwat"
(c=ts) which means 'stranger'.  This form is less vulgarized than
siwash.  To the Nez Perce being called a siwash was/is comparable to
being called a 'dog', the highest form of insult along the columbia
river.  Curious,

phil cash cash
cayuse/nez perce