Help with translation?

[Sue Schafer]

I am hoping that someone on this list might be able to help translate some Chinook words for me....  I am having some old letters translated from German.   They were written by my great grandparents who settled in the Satsop Valley in 1871.   One of the letters has some Chinook jargon in it.  I went online and sifted through the online Chinook dictionaries over and over, but I am hoping that some one will have more success than I.....   It really is a fun puzzle.  

Below you will find an excerpt from the letter which was written by my great grandmother to her recently married daughter.   Hyasman was a Quinalt Indian who homesteaded nearby.  It appears that the Chinook comments were made by Hyasman's wife.  Another letter mentions the wedding at the Hyasman's....over 100 Indians attended.   

"Now you could be at Heiesmän Gärk's wedding next week. They sure were surprised to hear that you were
already married!  Klutsch said (Heiesmäns) kawaneike dum Dum, bos ammak kkuk Shie kod neke wauman.Komber Deneds Klumschemän, be kanisem wouwaure heller Iskum Män nike.  "

So from the dictionary....perhaps kawaneike dum Dum is really Kahkwa nika tumtum, so I think (literally, such [is] my heart.    Am not so sure about the rest.....   Deneds might be "Dennis", an unmarried son.    be kanisem could be "by canoe".   Iskum means "to take hold of"....hmmmm.....no, it can't be "gets man by canoe"....maybe someone on this list more familiar with the words can fill in the blanks.   

My great grandmother was not an educated woman and she spelled everything phonetically (accented with a Plattdeutsch dialect from Cologne).

Am also curious about the name Hyasman Gärk.  Sometimes I see names in German with the surname in the front, but I wonder if this was common with the Indians....and is Gärk a name for a man or a woman? ...and when Indians married...were the festivities at the groom's place or the bride's? (grn....this is probably way off topic)

I appreciate any help you can provide.   
Many thanks,
Sue


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