'Dutchman' & 'camosun' / was / Re: Trade beads

[Mike Cleven]

At 10:16 PM 3/11/99 -0800, David Robertson wrote:
>"Bohemian" / Czech / Moravian beads were the real hot item, indeed.  Now,
>they likely could have been referred to as not only kamosEk / kamosEn
>(Original name of one of the towns now called Vancouver was Fort Camosun,
>eh?), but also "Dutchman beads" / "dEchmEn kamosEk" etc.
>
>I.e. "not made by the whites you normally deal with"!


Interesting usage; indicates that the HBC merchants must have had a point
in indicating these were made by still _other_ white people.....

Can't remember if Camosun was ever a "Fort" in the proper sense (HBC post
of its own).  I think it may be the pre-1843 name for what was then founded
as Fort Douglas, aka Victoria; one of the early mappers - on Vancouver's
crew, I think, commenting that "Camosun" was a "pretty bit of eden" and
something of a novelty in the otherwise bleak and rainy region (typically
the area of Victoria harbour _does_ get breaks in the weather, and like the
San Juans is a bit drier than the rest of the region).  Whoever it was
pronounced it a good site for the establishment of trading posts, one
reason being that the favourable conditions at this spot already made it a
popular intertribal trading sites - my guess is the name Camosun for this
place seems to be related to its activity as a trade site.....

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

The thunderbolt steers all things.
                           - Herakleitos