Chinuk Wawa 1858

[hzenk at PDX.EDU]

It's good to see activity on the list again.

Here's an item for the Chinook list archives.  My friend Melissa Darby, an
anthropological consultant who has been very active in historical preservation
causes, came across this while involved in a project to restore and relocate
the old Hillsboro, OR jail (an old log building standing since the 1850s,
albeit now in a state of advanced decreptitude).  Anyway, from the Oregon
Statesman, Salem, Oregon, 20 July 1858 (two paragraphs, the first, in smaller
type , evidently a quotation, followed by a short commenting paragraph in
larger type):

THE OREGON JARGON -- The S. F. Globe and Bulletin, have each published a
vocabulary of the Oregon Jargon, for the benefit of Frazer river emigrants--
that being a kind of universal language among the races that inhabit Oregon and
Washington Territories.  An intimate acquaintance with that highly refined and
elegant lingo, acquired during a long residence in Oregon, enables me to state
that the above mentioned vocabularies will be of no service whatever to persons
desirous of learning the "Chinook wawa."  No combination of the letters of the
Roman alphabet can give an American an idea of the proper pronunciation of the
words.  A man of ordinary capacity, however, can acquire a perfect knowledge of
the "language" in a few days, by conversing with educated Chinooks.  -- Nevada
Democrat

All the "jargon" dictionaries we have seen are a humbug.  That ornate language
can only be accurately learned by communication with the [abergianes].


"abergianes" is as spelled in the original, where it is printed in italics.
That's about as much insight as I can offer on that one.  Henry