Mixed blood, etc.

[Mrs. wynecoop]

After reading the posting from Chris and Henry I thought you might be
interested in my husband's comment on the word "siwash".  As background - he
is a mixed blood tribal member of the Spokane Indians - he is nearly seventy
and was discouraged from hanging on to his Indian heritage.  I asked him if
he was ever called "siwash" and he said that he was not, but that it was a
"fighting word" and his dad told him (and his six brothers) to "hit the son
of a bitch in the mouth if he calls you that".  He said that the word is a
lot worse in  meaning than "dirty Indian", that it meant that the name
caller considered Indians the "scum of the earth".

I know of one man, still living, on the nearby Colville Reservation, who
speaks Chinook Jargon, but have no information about the Spokanes using the
language. Wish I did.

Tina Wynecoop


From: hzenk at PDX.EDU
Reply-To: hzenk at PDX.EDU
To: CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
Subject: Re: Mixed blood, etc.
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 16:45:15 -0700

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
 >






i thank you god
for most this amazing day
for the leaping greenly spirits
of trees
and a blue true dream sky;
and for everything
which is natural
which is infinite
which is yes.
             e.e.commings


_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx