fwd from A. Grant re Tolmie

[Ross Clark (FOA DALSL)]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Robertson [mailto:tuktiwawa at NETSCAPE.NET]
> Sent: Tuesday, 25 June 2002 7:52 a.m.
> To: CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
> Subject: fwd from A. Grant re Tolmie
>
>
> From: "Anthony Grant" <Anthony.Grant3 at btinternet.com>
> To: "The Chinook List" <CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
> Subject: Tolmie's vocabularies
> Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 18:33:31 +0100
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> Klahowya:
>
> Some vocabularies collected by Tolmie when he was very young were =
> published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1841.  =
> They include data from several Salishan languages, and from Upper =
> Umpqua, Coast Tsimshian and several other languages, over a dozen in =
> all. (I wrote and published an article about this in 1992).
> There is a =
> vocabulary which corresponds to non-pidginised Chinook among these, =
> though his 'Cheenook' vocabulary is some form of Tsamosan
> Salish.

The languages he lists for which he has vocabularies as of 21/4/35 (p.309)
are: "Nusqually, Noosclalom, Haeeltzuk, Billichoola, Gueetilla or Nass,
Haida or Queen Charlotte's Island & Tumgass or Kittichunnish".

I'd =
> think it inconceivable that Tolmie didn't know CJ but I don't
> know him =
> noting anything down that he identified as CJ.

In the published journals I found the following phrases:

167: 2/5/33  [Columbia R] Passed a canoe fastened to the trunk of a tree in
the bank about 5 yards from margin, containing the ashes of a Chenooke. The
indians call these sepulchres Nimilush elihe "the Place of the Dead".

213: 1/7/33  [Ft Nisqually] A little while ago an Indian came to my
parchment window; saying "six pesaioux chacoo". "Friend the whites are
coming" -- ...

223: 3/8/33  Thuano Poyallip & Sinuamish arrived, "Mamonk Sunday" as they
express it. They are now haranguing each other & a few are performing the
Samanowash.

242: 17/10/33  After breakfast visited by Watskalatcheh & the resident
chiefs & was requested to "wawa sacchali". Gave them an account of the
Creation....

He also uses individual words without quotation marks here and there,
including hayakwa (dentalium) (223,314)and cockshettle (kill) (273, 296).
Others are less unambiguous: "savage" or "sauvage" (Indian) in quotes (235,
238, 305)is probably to be taken as French, likewise "apichimon blankets"
(340); "Boston ships" (305) may be a literal description; clement (elk skin)
(296) is certainly a fur trade word but is it CJ?

Most likely, in view of his expressed disdain for the Jargon, he simply
ceased to work on it once he had started collecting vocabularies of the
indigenous languages. But I thought it possible that he might have said
something in print, or that his early notes might survive in manuscript
somewhere.

Ross Clark