The Stick Samish

[Mike Cleven]

Dave Robertson wrote:
>
> Klahowya,
>
> In "Some Questions about Northern Straits", Wayne Suttles' paper for the upcoming Salish conference, he notes that "[t]he Samish are the southeasternmost Northern Straits group.  They are often confused with a Lushootseed-speaking group, the Nuwhaha, also known as the 'Upper Samish' or 'Stick Samish'" (page 293).
>
> Can we assume that 'Upper' in this case refers to those who live away from the coastline, in the forested foothills of the Cascades?  'Stick' then would come directly from Chinook Jargon for 'forest' -- and not, say, from the regional English term 'the sticks' (a reference to a remote or wilderness area).
>
> Ikta mtsayka tEmtEm?

Kahta tumtum okook?  Wake nah "stick" mamook kumtux "remote or
wilderness area" kunamoxt pe "forest"?  "The bush", "the backwoods"
i.e.?

Why do you think this?  Can't "stick" mean "remote or wilderness" area
as well as "forest"?  i.e. "the bush", "the backwoods"?

And although we haven't _proven_ that the regional English term "the
sticks" comes from the Chinook Jargon usage(s) of "stick", it _does_
seem pretty likely given the penetration of Jargonisms into English as a
whole.  (In fact, I'm not sure that "the sticks" is only regional
English, and not general English......Alan?)

I haven't seen the map, if any, accompanying Mr. Suttles' paper; is the
territory of the Nuwhaha/Stick Samish in the foothills of the Cascades,
or is it also on the coastline?  Don't forget that - especially in the
frontier period - the coastline of the Straits/Sound is pretty heavily
forested, every bit as much as the so-called "foothills" of the
Cascades.  In fact, the region I associate with the Samish (around
Bellingham, wake nah? - or is this particular territory S or E of Mt.
Vernon/Burlington/the Skagit Delta?) is much like the BC coastline - the
mountains come right down to the sea and there aren't really any
"foothills" like there are down in Oregon or SW Washington.  What
exactly is the sense of "Upper" in that version of their name?  And
what's "Nuwhaha" mean also?

MC

PS Dave - depending on your sched why don't you give me a call when
you're up this way; 716-7134; and I'll spin out to Chilliwack and (gasp)
buy you a beer......

PPS Lisa Peppan's going to be at Ft. Langley on the BC Day weekend (the
first weekend in August) hosting a table for Brigade Days for her
"Families of Ft. Langley" operation; anyone who's around might want to
stop by and say hi.  As I told her the other day by phone, a film
workshop I was at the other day was hosted by a real live descendant of
HBC Kanakas, who actually saw fit to put that on his resume (Richard
Story) which is how I found out....

MC2