camas & pre-CJ trade vocabulary

[Scott Tyler, M.D.]

I like your 'brand name' concept as an explanation for word similarities.

This may be particularly true for trade items such as the canoe--most
commonly used
was the Nootkan style from Columbia river, up to the top of Vancouver
Island, and into Puget sound.
Common called  chapac' = this term does appear in Gibbs as a Wawa term for
Canoe along with kanim.

bukwach, maawich for deer is another term that is wide spread.

oopooch  at Neah Bay, to opich at Nisqually for  'behind, bottom, or gluteus
maximus.
  an  oopooch is something which every member of every tribe has--provided
there has been no trauma or major birth defect.

hum, um,  =  stink or feces is wide spread in pretty much the same area--the
use of the term in describing a baby as in, ''the baby is hummy"
is occassionally used in Lapwai on the Nez Perce reservation--though they
(Nez Perce ) have their own terms.  The may be explained by
intermarriage with coastal tribes, or even words borrowed from Makah Indian
missionaries who moved there early in the last century.

 hykwa =  Dentiliaum is a similar object--it is found in one or two places
on Vancouver Island (Ehaitesaht or in Nuchatlet villages).  This was Indian
money, much wanted,  a rare commodity.  The Wawa word is likely of
Nuchanulth origin.  My guess is there should be a similar term from Alaska
to Northern California on the
coast, and spreading inward to the Dakotas.  Does any one know of an studies
done on the etymology of  Hykwa? How wide spread is the term or variations
of it?
It would be interesting if it spread so far as the east coast.

This same concept may be applied to some aspects of Native belief.
  A very wide spread cultural concept is found in Native Mythology--the
first people were animal people before the people (Indians) we see now
arrived.
 Then as story would be told how eagle did this, owl said that, mouse used
his power to do such and such. etc.

A cultural symbol may demonstrate a common origin like "the little girl in a
rain coat on a brand of salt" or the 'triangular emblem on a Mercedes car".
A native artistic symbol is the Swastika.  It is spread throughout the
Americas.  It is also spread through out Asia.
The swastika is found among Hindus, is on Buddhist art--visit the temple in
Bellevue, Washington there is a large red one interwoven beautifully on a
silk tapestry there.  The swastika is found on Zoroastrian art--the original
religion of Darius in the Bible, the ruler of ancient Persia.  The Three
Magi  also called the Three Wise men (not 3 wise guys) who came to Bethleham
to find Christ were Zoroastrian priests who were astronomers waiting for a
star to appear in the west of Persia.

The swastika did not become part of Christian symbols--I do not think Adolf
Hitler counts--though he may have been a Catholic, and the head of
predominantly Lutheran nation.  The  Nazis did ruin a perfectly good
religious symbol (the swastika) as it became inextricably bound to the
concept of genocide, racial superiority
and wide spread oppression.

Part of the devolopmental assessment of a human child 1-2 years of age, is
the ability to make an X  or a cross shape--see denver developmental screen.
This goes for all humans.  A two year old can make a cross and if he gets
bored he will extra lines and before you know he has made a swastika.
This design could have spontaneous occurred any where in the world made by
any child, but its ties to religion especially far eastern religion is
interesting.

Scott





> -----Original Message-----
> From:	David D. Robertson [SMTP:ddr11 at COLUMBIA.EDU]
> Sent:	Saturday, November 17, 2001 2:59 PM
> To:	CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
> Subject:	Re: camas & pre-CJ trade vocabulary
>
> Howdy,
>
> Thanks to Alan, Scott B., Scott T., Dell, and many others for a good
> discussion of both "camas" and a possible pre-CJ trade vocabulary.  We've
> touched just lightly on the latter idea in previous conversations here, so
> I wonder if folks may have more to say on that subject now.
>
> In light of some excellent work on "Nootka Jargon", "Haida Jargon", and
> etymologies of some of the first words recorded from the core Chinook
> Jargon region along the Columbia River, it's fascinating to consider a
> possible pre-contact trade-centered lingo.
>
> What vocabulary can we infer, and what can we reconstruct, of such a
> lingo?
>
> How much shall we discount the occurrence of area-wide terms for certain
> concepts, given that the Pacific Northwest is a classic
> linguistic "Sprachbund" (a region where even unrelated language families
> share a significant set of characteristics)?
>
> For example, terms for "frog" and "duck" are uncannily similar throughout
> NW languages, but that's no proof of any particular sort of relations
> among 'em.  Of course frogs and ducks aren't human social phenomena, which
> as Dell et al. rightly point out, are among the most promising materials
> to
> look at for evidence of intercultural contact.  Items we know were
> exchanged through trade networks are particularly likely to have had
> widely
> understood names.
>
> Brand recognition!
>
> As you can see, I'm very interested in the question of discerning various
> kinds of language contact:  Neighborly relations through centuries; abrupt
> mutual discovery; long-distance trade networks; and so forth.
>
> Your thoughts?
>
> Dave