[Anonymous public school publication:] "Indians of Washington State"

[David Robertson]

Qhata mayka?

I've just found this state publication at a local used-book store.  There
is a substantial section on the Chinook Jargon, amazingly -- if the
language was ever mentioned to us when I was in Washington public schools
in the 1970's and 80's, the treatment might have amounted to a single
sentence.

Pages 54 and 55 represent a pretty focused attempt to let students know
that there was such a language.  It's characterized as "no doubt...an
intertribal medium of communication long before the advent of the Whites,
having its parallel in the so-called "Mobilian language" of the Gulf
tribes and the sign language of the plains, all three being the outgrowth
of an extensive aboriginal system of intertribal trade and travel."
(William Samarin would no doubt have criticisms of such comments.)

A brief table is provided showing the approximate numbers of words in CJ
coming from each of 5 language categories at three different dates.  One
of the categories of donor language is "Chinook Jargon", puzzlingly.

Note is made that there was "much local variation" in the way CJ was
spoken from place to place.

It is claimed that "no one today speaks the Jargon".

Overall, I find this a treatment of CJ into which a fair amount of energy
was put, but probably few or no primary sources were consulted, and
several inaccuracies have thus been perpetuated in this text.

It makes me want to lobby Washington's, Oregon's, and British Columbia's
textbook standards boards to ensure that at least brief, and accurate,
attention is paid to the indispensable role played by Chinook Jargon in
our history.  Our state teacher's union ought to give continuing-education
credit to educators who attend the ChInuk Lu7lu, perhaps.

Dave



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