Math from a Chinuk Wawa speaker

[David Robertson]

"Kopa Kolwatir, Mois Tlakamnaskat iaka kolan kanawi katolik liplit klaska
500,000 kanawi kanamokst, pi iaka wawa:  Klunas kansih lili iht man iskom
klaska lima "shikhanc" kanawi pi iaka kopit.  Pus iaka aiak, pi iaka
shikhanc 20 kopa iht minit, 1200 kopa iht awr, 12000 iht son, klunas wik
saia iht mun pi sitkom, pi iaka kopit shikhanc kanawi."

I won't give a word-by-word breakdown, but here's my translation of this
excellent math problem:

"At Coldwater, BC, Moise Tlakamnaskat heard that all the Catholic priests
number 500,000 in total, and he said, 'Who knows how long it'd take a man
to finish shaking hands with all of them.  If he hurried, and shook hands
with 20 in a minute, 1200 in an hour, 12000 a day, it might be almost a
month and a half before he finished shaking hands with all of them."

(Note, there's lots of mention in Kamloops Wawa of the custom of shaking
hands with priests & others.  This bit came from issue #129 [June 1895],
page 87.)

--Dave R

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