Next Workshop....In tandem with the Salish conference

[Mike Cleven]

At 10:02 AM 1/31/99 -0800, Jeffrey Kopp wrote:
>On Sun, 31 Jan 1999 09:34:28 -0800, you wrote:
>>I'll have to get a write-up on the Douglas Lake for you (NB in local
>>parlance, "the Douglas Lake" refers to the ranch, not the lake).  One of
>>the oldest working ranches in Canada, it is now the largest (since the
>>breakup long ago of the Gang Ranch), a living vessel of "cowboy culture",
>>and was owned for years by C.N. "Chunky" Woodward, scion of the Woodward's
>>Department Stores fortune (a Western Canada institution).
>
>So, does the Jargon endure there for some practical reason (such diverse
>languages) or just habit, or is it consciously perpetuated out of custom
>or nostalgia?  Or put on as an act for the tourists?

Certainly not as an act for tourists.  I think there's a guesthouse at
Douglas Lake, but only for a few nightly visitors; sort of a B&B.  The
Douglas Lake is a "working ranch", not a dude ranch the residential area
being behind the ranch gates by a couple of miles.  AFAIK the reason for
the continuation of the working language within the ranch is the "cowboy
tradition", which in BC includes native culture (or rather, is defined by
it, although there are many non-native cowboys).  The Jargon words in the
Douglas Lake argot would simply be part of that tradition; haven't heard it
and haven't seen any documentation, although I suppose an inquiry to Garnet
Basque or Bill Barlee (local historians) might turn something up.  Most
likely it would be useful "working words" - hyak, klahwa, kow, skookum,
etc. - and a reflection of the multi-tribal makeup of ranch employees
(Okanagans, Shuswaps, Nicolas, Thompsons, etc.) as well as of the
frontier-era origin of the Ranch.....