Iskit/Secret Island

[Mike Cleven]

>From: barbara harris <CHINOOK at UVVM.UVIC.CA>
>
>Klahowya, tillicums!
>
>I have a query from Margo who is writing a history of Secret Island, just
>off
>the coast of Saltspring Island. In one of the deeds she has found, the
>island
>is referred to as "iskit." I can't find this term in any of my
>dictionaries,
>but we both wondered if it could be a variant, or even a mishearing of
>"ipsoot"
>secret, to hide or conceal. Any ideas?
>
>You could reply directly to her at margomac at islandnet.com, or to me, or to
>the
>list (I'd certainly like to know what anybody has to say about this).
>
>Hyas mahsie,
>
>Barbara.

When I pronounced that in my head I immediately thought of the Iskut River,
which is of course inland from the Alaska Panhandle and probably has its
origin in a different language than anything local.  By the geography you'd
think this would be Lower Straits Salish or Hulquminum/Cowichan, wouldn't
it?  But surely Margo has local-language linguists/elders to consult on
this.  The _possibility_ that it's a local variant of "ipsoot" seems quite
plausible, although it's for you linguists out there to comment on the
validity of the p-k shift.  That the meaning pf this if it is a variant of
ipsoot coincides with the English name of the island makes sense.

Hmmmm.  Secret Island - this isn't where Brother Twelve did his thing, was
it?

Mike
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