question

[Henry Zenk]

David, three Jargon words referring to kinds of dentalium shell are
known from Grand Ronde:

	a'likoCik  dentalium shells, large size
	'kupkup  dentalium shells, small size
	'haykwa  (1) dentalium shells (any kind), (2) "Indian money"
		(any kind of valued beads/shells, usually strung).

Henry

On Sun, 14 Feb 1999, 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?
>