Chief Boston & "soapsuds" => CJ @ Niwity in 1834?

[David Robertson]

I've been having a look at William Fraser Tolmie's published journals 
("Physician and Fur Trader", 1963, published by Mitchell, Vancouver).

On pages 278 and following, he talks about a Chief Boston at Niwity.  
That's far northern Vancouver Island, Kwakwaka'wakw territory.  Maybe this 
is the person whose house appears in early photos with an inscription in 
English that says roughly "BOSTON.  Best goods at best prices."

On page 296 he tells about people going around at a feast where young men 
served "soapsuds" from large boxes which they stirred with their naked 
arms.  Guests ate this food with small sticks.  Sounds like what's called 
soupolallie in Jargon.  (Otherwise called Indian ice cream, sXwusEm, and so 
on.)  

I wonder if these are clues that Jargon was already in use up there in 
1834, which is the year these things were recorded by Tolmie.  He'd 
recorded a vocabulary of Jargon the year before, near Forts Vancouver and 
Nisqually, but he didn't often note the language particular people spoke at 
any given occasion.

We don't know a whole lot about the northerly spread of Jargon.  But this 
would be a very early date.  In fact pidgin Haida was still being used just 
to the North, wasn't it?  

--Dave R

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