Tillamook CJ

[David Lewis]

At 07:25 PM 11/2/2001 -0800, you wrote:
>"Alan H. Hartley" wrote:
> >
> > The Salishan Tillamook were apparently using CJ in 1805-6:
> >
> > Meriwether Lewis says, on 10 Jan. 1806 (Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped.,
> > vol. 6, 1990, p. 194) "The Killamucks in their habits customs manners
> > dress and language differ but little from the Clatsops & Chinnooks."
>
>Sounds plausible, save for the vagueness of Lewis' comment; it _could_
>be that he's alluding only to similar sound systems; if he'd said
>something like "they speak to one another in their own tongues easily"
>then we'd have something a bit more precise.  Still, it's logical to
>assume that the Tillamooks would have had a common argot with their
>neighbours, being isolated from the Salishan geographic community
>farther north and east.
>
>MC

This last year I was looking through the Congressional Serial Set in the
library and I came upon an interesting account. If I remember right, in
1813 or 1814, the Americans had decided to retake Astoria. At that time the
fort was held by a Canadian fur company, as it had been sold out from under
Jacob Astor, without his say so, a few years before. I don't have the
account in front of me but the United States sent a naval force around the
horn and they landed in Peru. There, they got a copy of a Jargon language
text, which had been taken down at Nootka years earlier. They retook Fort
Astoria, then, proceeded up the Columbia, to the falls, where they report
being able to use this Nootka text for to talk to the Indians along the
river... So its not only possible but most probable that Chinook Jargon was
spoken throughout the Columbia and up to Nootka. I'll try to find my copy
of this account and reference it here for all to see.
David







David Gene Lewis                        Department of Anthropology
Graduate student                        University of Oregon
         cell 541-510-0217                               Eugene, OR 97403

coyotez at oregon.uoregon.edu                      talapus at kalapuya.com
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Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde,  Kalapuya Tribe