Shuswap shorthand on birchbark

[Keith Thor Carlson]

When I was in Britain a couple of years ago I checked with the Windsor  
castle archives (for the royals) about these and other gifts/ 
correspondence from BC Aboriginals.  Unfortunately, the archives  
housing documents from citizens of the Commonwealth was destroyed  
during Nazi bombings.  THey have nothing pre-WWII.

Keith

Keith Thor Carlson



On 11-Jan-08, at 10:33 AM, Scott Tyler wrote:

> Hi Dave,
> Another interesting historical tidbit about wawa.
> Would it not be nice if that birch bark letter was tucked away in an  
> archives some where.
> tloosh nanich,
> Scott
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Robertson" <ddr11 at UVIC.CA>
> To: <CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
> Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 10:47 PM
> Subject: Shuswap shorthand on birchbark
>
>
>> This is an interesting eyewitness account by H.I. Smith, who  
>> visited the
>> Kamloops area and even took photos of Jargon shorthand grave  
>> markers.  The
>> letters he refers to below must have been in shorthand too.  Other  
>> pages
>> of the article discuss the origin, introduction, and proud use of the
>> shorthand by First Nations of the area.
>>
>> Some of you will be interested in his notes elsewhere in this photo-
>> illustrated article about the trip by Le Jeune, Chief Louis, and
>> Chief "Tciilxitca" to Europe in 1904.  --  Dave
>>
>> "On the night of Queen Victoria's
>> jubilee day, the Indians near Kam-
>> loops built a great fire on the peak
>> of the mountain which stands guard
>> over their reservation. It was a great
>> surprise to us when we looked up and
>> saw fire and smoke rising from the
>> peak in the night, the mountain appearing
>> like a great volcano; but it
>> was only the result of days of labor
>> on the part of these dusky but loyal
>> subjects of the Queen. At that time
>> they wrote several letters to Her Majesty
>> on sheets of birchbark, using the
>> Shuswap language, which they recorded
>> in phonetic symbols. These
>> letters were sent to the Queen by
>> Father Le Jeune, and must have
>> proved of interest to the sovereign of the lowly authors."
>>
>> Harlan I. Smith.  1909. "An American Oberammergau: The passion-play  
>> by
>> American Indians". Putnam's & The Reader.  Pp. 294-303. (Quotation  
>> is from
>> page 302)
>>
>> To respond to the CHINOOK list, click 'REPLY ALL'.  To respond  
>> privately to the sender of a message, click 'REPLY'.  Hayu masi!
>
> To respond to the CHINOOK list, click 'REPLY ALL'.  To respond  
> privately to the sender of a message, click 'REPLY'.  Hayu masi!

To respond to the CHINOOK list, click 'REPLY ALL'.  To respond privately to the sender of a message, click 'REPLY'.  Hayu masi!