Slumach's gallows curse: fill in the blanks

[Mike Cleven]

Some of you may know the legend of Slumach and his legendary gold mine,
and the curse he supposedly uttered just before his death.  Turns out he
cursed in Jargon, if curse he did; the following is quoted from "In
Search of a Legend; Slumach's Gold", which is well worth the read if you
can find or order it (Nunaga Publishing Company, P.O. Box 157 New
Westminster BC, V3L 4Y4, if they still exist; otherwise antiquarians may
have it).

"The curse put on the mine by Slumach has been reported as "Nika
memloose, mine memloose".  The interpretations of this curse vary, but
all centre around the idea that "when I die, mine dies" or "when I die,
so does my mine".  Some have tried to enlarge the translation by adding
words to the effect of "and all who search for my mine will die, also".
There is no reliable proof whatsoever that Slumach uttered this or any
other curse at any time.  The most reliable reports say that he went to
his death without saying a word."

Legends concerning Slumach are extensive and usually unsubstantied, such
as the claim that he lured women into the bush with him and killed them,
and for the last of these is why he was hanged.  Nix.  He was hanged for
the murder of Louis Bee, another "halfbreed" even though he denied any
part in the death (mind you, the knife pulled from the victim was
identified as his by his own mother, but that's still not proof he did
it in an absolute sense).  Up to 41 men are said to have gone to their
deaths trying to find the supposedly cursed mine; some are still
looking, and it's quite a legend.  Nowhere else in the lower Coast
Mountains has there been a significant placer-nugget find, however, and
the geology (and the terrain) of the region is particularly
uncooperative for prospecting for gold.  But the legend says he'd show
up in New West saloons passing out nuggets like candy, then disappear
again when they rain out (c. 1880s).  I think in the interests of
accuracy, it's fairly safe to say that his conviction and hanging may
have been a reflection of the prejudices of local whites against a
successful part-blood, as was the case with Captain Gott in Lillooet, or
any wealthy mine-owning native, such as Hunter Jack also of Lillooet.
An examination of the hanging and other sentencing records in 19th
Century BC will no doubt serve to demonstrate that there is a much
higher rate of conviction for those of native or part-native ancestry
than for other groups, no matter what the charges or evidence.

Legends vs. reality aside, I thought I'd throw it out to the group to
finish off the curse with the supposed tag line; the mine-hunting
theorists who've expanded on the account of the curse most likely spoke
no Chinook, but I think we can all see that "nika memloose, mine
memloose" doesn't include a hint of "and all who...etc."; mind you he
could have been misquoted and "nika memloose, mika memloose" is a bit
closer to the mark, maybe "nika memloose, mika (or yaka) memloose ticky
mine" or some such.  But for the hell of it, why doncha'all try and come
up with yer own phraseologies for what might have followed "nika
memloose, mine memloose........."

Mike