Toketie

[Theresa Kishkan]

Those of you who are devotees of west coast literature might know of Beth Hill's Upcoast Summers, a book in which Hill shadows the earlier voyages of Francis and Amy Barrow, who explored the coast of British Columbia, as far north as Kingcome Inlet, in their little boat, Toketie.

>From Beth Hill's Introduction: "According to her present owner, William Garden, the Toketie is the oldest operating yacht on the coast, has probably logged more miles than any other, and is now wearing out her sixth motor.....Toketie is said to mean "pretty" in the language of the Salish people of the Saanich Peninsula." (1985)

Theresa K.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: hzenk at PDX.EDU 
  To: CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG 
  Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2004 2:32 PM
  Subject: Re: KIWA


  I wanted to jump into this awhile back, but was out of town and didn't have the
  right notes.  The issue of whether an English spelling points to Chinuk Wawa or
  another indigenous language also arises for two placenames in the central
  Oregon Cascades, traditional Molala country (Molalas were hunters who lived in
  small groups scattered along the slopes of the Oregon Cascades; most were
  removed to Grand Ronde Res. in the mid-19th c., except for a group that went to
  Klamath Res. and others that stayed or drifted back to their original home
  territories).  The names are:

  1. Toketee Falls (North Fork of Umpqua R.), for which MacArthur's Oregon
  Geographic Names cites CW "Toke-tie, pretty" (Gibbs's spelling), a word I've
  never heard anyone use and which even Gibbs says was unusual.

  2. Tuckta Trail (Near Oakridge, OR).

  Both of these names could also be taken as suggesting Molala tae:qti-, ta:qti-
  'above, high up'.  This fits geographically, as both names are in traditional
  Molala territory.  Of course, it's easy to imagine "Toketee Falls" being
  named when someone fished out their English-orthography "Chinook"
  dictionary--of which there were many, but almost all based more-or-less on
  Gibbs.  On the other hand, the spelling doesn't quite match Gibbs's, and the
  identification could have resulted from later reinterpretation.  If the name
  goes way back to the pioneer period, I would think that would probably
  strengthen the case for a Molala etymology.  On the other hand, if it is just
  from some Forest Service map-maker, it's probably out of a dictionary.

  Anyway, does anyone know anything about the history of either of these names?
  Henry

  Quoting Maria Pascua <mcrcmaria at CENTURYTEL.NET>:

  > I think 'deer' is originally Nuuchahnulth as well.  I just wanted to make a
  > correction on the Makah pronunciation, it is bukwach.  [buk-wach] with
  > accent on the second syllable.
  > Maria Pascua
  >
  > -----Original Message-----
  > From: The Chinook List [mailto:CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG]On Behalf
  > Of Henry Kammler
  > Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2004 10:17 AM
  > To: CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
  > Subject: Re: KIWA
  >
  > Leanne wrote:
  > >For some reason I have the impression that the word "mowitch," or deer,
  > >is not from the Pacific but further east. ???
  >
  > What would be the reason? Phonetically, "mowitch" looks simple for a NWC
  > language but that's true for most CJ  words. "mowitch" probably goes back
  > to Nuuchahnulth /muwac^/ (Nitinat and Makah /buwac^/) and in those
  > languages can be analyzed as "burnt at the crotch".
  > Generally spoken, it would not be surprising to find the one or the other
  > Algonquian term in CJ but probably never as direct loans.
  > I'm wondering whether we find instances of "pseudo-native" loans in English
  > (like papoose, squaw, wigwam, calumet etc. which almost exclusively derive
  > from Eastern Algonquian and refer to concepts in the indigenous cultures)
  > mixed with CJ in any of the sources or in popular writing in order to
  > represent an "Indian" way of talking.
  >
  > Greetings,
  > Henry K.
  >
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  >
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  >

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