Mixed blood, etc.

[hzenk at PDX.EDU]

Chris,

Gosh, you had a class from Erna Gunther in the mid-60s?! And never told me?!

At Grand Ronde, we are used to hearing s(h)awash (stress on either syllable) as
the usual (and quite neutral) Chinuk Wawa term for 'Indian'.  sitkum sawash
as 'mixed blood' seems neutral in Chinuk Wawa:  certainly, more so than "half-
breed" in English.  Ambiguity enters with respect to local English "siwash"
(pronounced ['saywash]), and the French original term as heard from members of
the local French-speaking families.  I remember hearing that White kids would
call Indians kids "siwash" at school to bait them.  The late Wilson Bobb (Sr.)
told me how he resented some members of the local French families, who would
call Indians [sa'vaesh] (as he remembered the word being pronounced):  he
resented their attitude of superiority, and was aware that this was a loaded
word.  To him, interestingly, [shawash] and [sa'vaesh] were simply two
different words from two different languages:  he perceived no relationship
between them.  It is also interesting that the Hudson sisters used [saywash] as
their usual (and quite neutral) Chinuk Wawa word for 'Indian'.  Apparently, it
was not the same word for them in Chinuk Wawa as it would be in English.  Henry

Quoting John Doe <chris24 at TELEPORT.COM>:

> The first time I heard the word "siwash" in English was in a class
> of Erna Gunther's (an elder) at UW in the mid 60's.  She said not to use it
> to or about Indians.  I may have heard it subsequently used in its
> pejorative
> sense from another white elder.  I guess this dates me.
>
> alta nayka Latawa
> Chris Schindler
>