Coeur d'Alene miners' lingo: Another sort of 'trade language' (musings on sociolinguistic history in the Northwest)

[Mike Cleven]

>From: David Robertson <drobert at TINCAN.TINCAN.ORG>
>Reply-To: David Robertson <drobert at TINCAN.TINCAN.ORG>
>To: CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>Subject: Coeur d'Alene miners' lingo:  Another sort of 'trade language'
>          (musings on sociolinguistic history in the Northwest)
>Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 22:07:31 -0700
>
>Klahowya,
>
>Here's something different.  The Spokane, WA _Spokesman-Review_ of
>Tuesday, June 6th, pages A8 and A11, has an article, "Underground Code /
>Miners use colorful language to get their point across".
>
>The article, written by staff writer Becky Kramer, terms the lingo in
>question a "trade language" -- where "trade" refers to an occupation
>rather than to commercial exchange.  This makes me aware that I may need
>to be more careful when I'm telling cheechakos about Chinook Jargon.
>
>A large number of the words in the Coeur d'Alenes lingo are from the
>Cornish language, a Celtic relative of Irish and Welsh that is now widely
>considered extinct.  Probably most of the people in North Idaho who use
>these words, in both mining and daily life, are unaware of these facts.
>
>"Stope" is one of the words used; it refers to "a large open space,"
>specifically "an area mined upward".
>
>"Stull" is another Cornish word in the lingo; it means "a single timber
>used to support loose rock."
>
>Why is this interesting to students of Chinook Jargon?
>
>The existence of this language variety shows us how very complex the
>cultural fabric of the Northwest is.  The speakers of the Coeur d'Alenes
>miners' lingo are probably all native speakers of English, yet they also
>pass this "insider" (!) language down through generations, for reasons
>having specifically to do with the cultural heritage of a few towns in a
>small region of North Idaho.
>
>Similarly, once one starts doing a little digging (sorry!), one finds,
>much more often than not, that the story of each of our region's
>innumerable small communities is much more vibrant and fascinating than
>mainstream history books will ever imply.
>
>And Chinook Jargon is a superb example of another cultural treasure that
>is essentially invisible to the dominant culture.
>
>(I can tell you from personal experience that there was a time when I
>thought that the Northwest was a hopelessly homogeneous product of the
>"melting pot"...a flavorless blend of all sorts of people, with "no
>culture"!  To look beyond the received ideas and the self-image of the
>dominant culture, though, refutes every bit of that thesis and more.)

"Received ideas and the self-image of the dominant culture" is an
interesting pejorative; can't you just say "colonialist mentality".
Actually what I notice now about tthe prevailing mindset/dominant culture is
that it's oblivious to the previous colonialist culture; it has a new
colonialism all its own that knows nothing of the Northwest identity(ies) or
the local history or stuff like the Jargon; on our side of the magic line
this means the Euro-Asian idea that "CAnada/BC doesn't have a culture" and
the corresponding influx of Eastern Canadians who think that BC has the same
history as Ontario or the Maritimes.

>
>Forgive me for wandering.

It's what webspace is for, so long as there's no trappers around.
>
>Dave
>
>PS -- Northwesterners *do* have accents!

On your side of the border, maybe......


________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com