A new kind of quiz...about Alaska & Chinook Jargon

[David Robertson]

Qhata mEsayka?

Mika tikegh wawa ikta delate, pe ikta wake delate, kopa okoke?  (Okoke
chako kopa ikt book, "Alaska-Yukon Handbook", Deke Castleman pe Don
Pitcher klaska mamook tzum yaka, kopa Chico, CA:  Moon, 1997.)

cheechako -- a Chinook term meaning "just arrived," used to describe
newcomers and visitors, especially those who haven't spent a winter in
Alaska or received a dividend check.  Some sourdoughs view anyone not born
in the state as a cheechako.  [Dave yaka wawa:  Delate kahkwa klaska
tumtum nika tillicum.]

chinook -- a strong warm wind originating in Prince William Sound which
can be particularly destructive in Anchorage.

chum -- a kind of salmon; also known as dog salmon, after the animals to
which it's mostly fed.

hootch -- shortened version of the Chinook word "hootchenoo," meaning
home-distilled spirits.

mush -- popularized by Sgt. Preston of the Yukon (and immortalized in the
Crusader Rabbit cartoon episode about the small Canadian village, "If
Anyone Can, Yukon"), this command means "Let's go!" to anxious dog teams
everywhere.  It's a Chinook term adapted from the French word marchons.

potlatch -- a Native party to celebrate any old thing.  Often the hosts
would give away all their possessions to their guests.  This exercise in
the detachment from all worldly goods was simultaneously an exercise in
greed, as the event also conferred upon the guests the obligation to host
a bigger potlatch with better gifts.

salt chuck -- a narrow constriction at the end of a lagoon, where the
direction of the water flow depends on the tides (out at low, in at high).
The term is mainly used in Southeast Alaska.

skookum -- a Chinook word meaning strong or worthy.

skookum house -- jail.

squaw candy -- dried or smoked salmon.

tillicum -- friend or partner.








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