klickwillie

[Mike Cleven]

At 09:38 AM 3/11/99 +0100, Henry Kammler wrote:
>> Is there any relevant etymological connection between "klokwally" or
>> "klookwalli" for the wolf dance, and klickwillie (sp? - maybe I've not got
>> the word quite right) for "brass things, rings, ornaments"?
>> Mike Cleven
>
>Probably not. The "Wolf Dance" is the the month-long winter ceremonial of the
>Kwakiutl (dlhugwala), Nootkans (tlukwaana / tlukwaala), Makah and Quileute
>(tlukwaali). It probably originated among the Kwakiutl and was central to the
>yearly ceremonial round. Rings do occur, as head ornaments and shoulderrings
>made from cedar bark, but this is not a feature exclusive to this ceremonial.
>It would have taken quite a bit of semantic extension to turn this word's
>meaning into "brass rings".
>Where was this "klickwillie" used?

I took time out to look through my own website (~!) because I'd forgotten
the spellings.  Shaw gives "klikwallie" and "klokewallie" and there's
somewhere I remember something like "kalakhwalie" noted as
similar/different to/from kalakhwatie in whichever source), and the
definition I remember is either brass (or presumably any yellow metal other
than gold) or gold rings and ringlets (Shaw: "an armlet or bracelet of
brass wire").  Maybe it was product-specific, in the same way one of the
sources (?) mentions that "camosun/camosack" referred only to the
good-quality HBC beads.  I'm curious about the history of brass in the
region, though - iron smelting was known here for centuries, but is it for
certain that brass was unknown here before naval contact?  Copper's pretty
common, and smelting was known.....??

Mike Cleven
ironmtn at bigfoot.com
http://members.home.net/ironmtn/

The thunderbolt steers all things.
                           - Herakleitos