Excerpt in Jargon re CJ literacy; "KW", March 1894

[Dave Robertson]

Tlus pulakli,

Here's a brief excerpt from page 34 of the March 1894 issue of "Kamloops
Wawa".  It's in Jargon, as you can see; I've tried to make it very
user-friendly.

1 [...]  Nsaika mitlait
2 8 son kopa Spusom pi ayu
3 tilikom mamuk kopa styuil pi
4 kopa Chinuk pipa.  Kansih tanas
5 man ilo slip.  Klunas tlun
6 pulakli klaska ilo slip pi
7 klaska mamuk Chinuk pipa pi
8       chako son.

NOTES:
Spusom = Spuzzum, B.C.
styuil = prayer(s); worship
pi chako = until...

TRANSLATION into English:

1       We were
2       8 days at Spuzzum and lots of
3       Indian people worked on prayers and
4       on Chinook writing.  Several (young)
5       lads didn't sleep.  [For] maybe three
6       nights they didn't sleep and
7       they did Chinook writing until
8       sunrise.

COMMENT:
This would have been in late winter in B.C. Interior Salish country.  One
thing I wonder about, and may never know, is whether the boys who stayed up
for several nights in a row had been brought up to go without sleep while
absorbing important knowledge.  Particularly my thought is that these
Nke7lhepmx (Thompson) people perhaps still had the custom of all-night
winter storytelling sessions, like countless other ethnic groups of the
region.  I've been told that kids were expected to try to stay awake in
order to learn all the traditional knowledge that the elders were telling.
Maybe an interesting parallel or carryover.  Your opinions?

Best from
Dave