Jargon Web mail

[Jeffrey Kopp]

Klahowya (and perhaps "Klahowyum"), fellow Jargonauts.  Well, I have
a few messages here which are getting stale and were directed to me
via one or the other of my Web sites. I find myself at a bit of a
loss about answering them.  (Actually, I am at a loss about all but
the simplest questions about the Jargon, and I regret to admit I have
also begun blowing off inquiries from schoolchildren who have
assignments to write about the Chinook Indians.  I simply don't know,
and haven't yet found any adequately simple but informative Web sites
to refer them to.) 

Anyway, I am reluctant to simply forward these messages to the list
as it also appears on the Web (in archive), and their authors
directed these to me as personal emails.  But here are the texts, and
if anyone would like to lend a hand I can forward the replies or
otherwise somehow put you in touch with each other.  It would spare
me some embarrassment, and I'd probably learn from the answers, too.
(Funny how once you put up a Web site about something, people get the
idea you are an expert on it ;-> )

I've also had a lively correspondence going with a young Frenchwoman
(I think) who is a diplomat in Japan.  Her eager questions have
already far outstripped my meager knowledge, but she remains
reluctant or unable for some reason to get onto the list.  I'll
compile some of her questions and send them along later, and perhaps
with some encouraging replies I can get her into the loop.

Mahsie!

Jeff

* * * * 

Dear Mr. Kopp,

Your website is informative and very useful for those of us just 
discovering the Chinook language. I have a few questions for you:

1. Why is Chinook called a "jargon" and not a "pidgin" or a "creole"?

2. What is the geographical distribution of the Chinook language? I 
understand it was widespread throughout the Pacific Northwest. Is it 
still in use today? Are Native peoples actively involved in using or 
preserving it?

3. Can you please suggest some good texts for more research into 
Chinook?

thanks 

* * * * * * *

Hello,

During a recent trip to Fort Columbia on the Columbia River I found
displayed upstairs, a copy of "Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon or
Indian Trade Language , T.G. Lowe, Publishers and Stationers.  1873,
Printed at Courier Job Rooms, Olympia, Washington Territory.  Is this
one that you have?  I asked if it would be possible to copy it but
the caretaker did not know and referred us to the director at Fort
Canby. He apparently is in charge of both forts.

My family and I are volunteers at Fort Nisqually in Tacoma and have
become interested in the Chinook Jargon.  Do you think you would be
interested in trying to get a copy of this booklet for your
collection?  Would it be a better idea to ask the fort museum curator
to inquire?

Thank you,