Smith River Rancheria

[David Lewis]

>Which seems to back up the idea that Jargon existed in some form
>_throughout_ the region (not just among the Nootka/Makah and Chinook and
>their immediate neighbours).  If people down into this area had learned
>the Jargon by that date, it had something to do with more than the HBC
>or the yet-to-come efforts of the Oblates.  IIRC the whole of southern
>Oregon and northern California is quite a linguistic patchwork; many
>different languages - a region in which the Jargon would have been
>_very_ useful to natives, with or without the presence of white traders
>and other colonists.  Was northern California opened up as quickly as
>the Bay Area and goldfields, or was it more remote in those days like
>most of the Northwest remained for many years after?

Northern California was remote and there were also lots of "Americans"
traveling and prospecting through the area. As well there were lots of
people from throughout the Pacific region, Australia, China, Japan,
Hawaiian, etc. The Gold Rush was not just a domestic matter, and people
were there from many global locations. The Crescent City area has a good
harbor, and is one of the only good agricultural areas in Northwest
California. But it is also rich in timber, Redwood, Cedar, Port Orford
Cedar, and Oak. The Tolowa were unique as having a complex food and
resource base. They had easy access to Marine, riverine, forest, littoral,
Oak savanah, resources. Other peoples in the area like the Klamath river
tribes, Yuroks etc. had the forests and the rivers but were less marine
focused. This may be similar to other tribes up the coast, Coquille, Coos,
Alsea, Tillamooks. But they were definitely related to Tututni, in fact I
am not quite sure why they are separate except by convention of the States
jurisdiction. Tolowas apparently owned fishing grounds and rights to
fishing on the Klamath and up into Oregon. In fact they had ceremonies at
Arch Rock, up past Brookings in Oregon. There doesn't  seem to be a lot of
information on the Tututni Fish camps but they apparently happened and I
have seen passing reference of this up into the Lincoln City region. The
Gold rush is seen as a California and Alaska thing, but really the
progression was northward, into the remote areas of Northern California
and  Southern Oregon and Washington. Much of the reports of "Indian
depredations" are actually American gold prospectors attacking  Indian
villages to drive off the Indians as they were living along rivers, the
prime prospecting areas. HBC may have sent fur parties down to the Rogue
but I haven't seen information as to how far they went or who they met.
That info may be at the HBC archives. But this doesn't discount the fact
that Indian people had well established trade routes and had traded
languages as well as resources. Allikachik finding its way to California is
a good example of this. But the Tolowa had central Oregon obsidian as well.
The incidence of marine trade was not felt as much in Northern California
until Redwoods became valuable. There were steamers which travelled the
coast but Crescent City and Eureka bore the brunt of their trade, and these
places were heavily Americanized.

Additionally there is the fact (which I brought up last year some time)
that George Gibbs was the "interpreter" for the McKee treaty making
expedition to Northen California. George Gibbs had already learned Chinook
jargon in Astoria by this time and travelled down to Sutter's fort
(Sacramento) and was hired there. The Redick McKee expedition was 1851-52
and he remained in the area many years later. Did Gibbs use Chinook Jargon
to communicate with the Indians in Northern California? This remains to be
proven/ disproven.

David

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               David Lewis
         P.O. Box 3086
Eugene, OR 97403, USA
541.684.9003  Cell 541.954.2466
talapus at kalapuya.com, coyotez at darkwing.uoregon.edu,
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~coyotez
http://www.kalapuya.com
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~coyotez

Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Oregon
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