Chinook Jargon

Chinook Jargon was a trade language (or pidgin) of the Pacific Northwest, which spread quickly up the West Coast from Oregon, through Washington, British Columbia, and as far as Alaska. It is related to, but not the same as the indigenous language of the Chinook people. The term Chinook Jargon is actually growing a bit obsolete; most books written in English still use the term Chinook Jargon, but today the term Chinook Wawa is often used.

Related Topics:
Pidgin - Pacific Northwest - Oregon - Washington - British Columbia - Alaska - Chinook

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Jargon was derived from a great variety of indigenous words, as well as English and French. Many of its words are still in common use in the Western United States and Canada. The Jargon words of published lexicons only numbered in the hundreds, and so it was easy to learn. It has its own grammatical system. In Kamloops, British Columbia hundreds of speakers also learned to read and write the Jargon (Wawa) using the Duployan Shorthand - as a result, Jargon also had its own literature.

Related Topics:
Kamloops - British Columbia - Duployan Shorthand

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There is some controversy about the origin of the Jargon, but all agree that its glory days were during the 19th Century. During this era many dictionaries were published in order to help settlers interact with the First Nations people already living there. The old settler families' heirs in the Pacific Northwest sent communiques to each other, stylishly composed entirely in The Chinuk. Many residents of the British Columbia city of Vancouver chose to speak Chinook Jargon as their first language, even using it at home in preference to English. Among the first Europeans to use Chinook Jargon were traders, trappers, voyageurs and Catholic missionaries. Polynesian and Chinese immigrants made much use of it as well; in some places Hawai'ian immigrants married into the First Nations families, and the Chinook Jargon naturally became the first language in their households. During the Gold Rush, Chinook Jargon was used in British Columbia by gold prospectors and Royal Engineers. As industry developed, Chinook Jargon was often used by cannery workers and hop pickers of diverse ethnic background. Loggers, fishermen and ranchers incorporated it in their jargon.

Related Topics:
19th Century - First Nations - British Columbia - Vancouver - First language - Traders - Trappers - Voyageurs - Catholic missionaries - Gold Rush - Royal Engineers - Jargon

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Chinook Jargon (Chinuk Wawa) is still spoken as a first language by some residents of Oregon State, much as the Métis language Michif is still spoken in Canada. Hence, the Wawa is now a creole language. There is evidence that in some communities (e.g. around Fort Vancouver) the Jargon had become creolized by the early 1800s.

Related Topics:
Oregon State - Métis - Michif - Canada - Creole language - Fort Vancouver

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Some believe that the Jargon (without European words) existed prior to European contact. Others believe that the Jargon was formed within the great cultural cauldron of this contact. Current opinion holds that a trade language of some kind probably existed prior to European contact, which morphed into the more familiar Chinook Jargon in the late 1700s. Many words in Chinook Jargon clearly had different meanings and pronunciations at various points in history, and continued to evolve into interesting regional variants. A few scholars have tried to improve the spelling, but since it was mostly a spoken language this is difficult (and many users tend to prefer the sort of spelling they use in English).

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Local West Coast historians are well acquainted with the Chinook Jargon, in name if not in the ability to understand it. For everyone else, the fact that Chinook Jargon ever existed is relatively unknown, perhaps due to the great influx of newcomers into the influential urban areas. However, the memory of this language is not likely to fade entirely. Many words are still used and enjoyed throughout Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. Oldtimers still dimly remember it, although in their youth, speaking this language was discouraged as slang. Nonetheless, it was the working language in many towns and workplaces, notably in ranching country and in canneries on the British Columbia coast where it was necessary in the strongly multiethnic workforce. Place names throughout this region bear Jargon names and words are preserved in various rural industries such as logging and fishing.

Related Topics:
Washington - British Columbia - Alaska - Slang

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The Chinook Jargon was multicultural and functional. There was no Official Chinook Jargon, although the past publishers of dictionaries would have had you believe otherwise. To those familiar with it, Chinook Jargon is often considered a wonderful cultural inheritance. For this reason, and because Jargon has not quite died, enthusiasts actively promote the revival of the language in everyday western speech.

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An art installation featuring Chinook Jargon can be viewed on the Seawall near Yaletown, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Related Topics:
Seawall - Yaletown - Vancouver - British Columbia

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A few Jargon words:

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• Nika: I, or anything first-person
• hyak: fast, swift
• hyas: big, important; hyas tyee - king, high chief
• kultus: bad, worthless, inconsequential, unimportant
• memaloose: dead, or death
• cayuse: a horse or pony, in some areas also a coyote
• hyas pusspuss: cougar (was used on the T.V. show "Beachcombers")
• hum opoots: skunk (lit. "stinky butt")
• olallie: berry
• lakalat: carrot
• paper: pepa
• skookum: big/strong, powerful, awe-inspiring; monster or monstrous (obsolete). Used as a verb auxiliary for "can" (to be able) or "powerful at". This word remains a common component of English for long-time residents, for whom it means something strongly-built, or someone genuine, honest, reliable. It can also simply mean "impressive", as in "That's a pretty skookum bicycle you've got there!" (British Columbia, Interior region).
• high muckamuck(s): the chief, the boss, management (modern usage). In modern blue-collar usage, this word is one of many mildly sarcastic slang terms used to refer to bosses and upper management (British Columbia, Interior region). Var. "High Mucketymuck".
• chuck: water. This word is still well remembered, though less frequently used. Salt chuck: the ocean. Skookum chuck: rapids, whitewater, rough water.
• tillikum: friend; also means people, kin
• tyee: leader, chief, a really big chinook salmon (Campbell River)
• tenas: child, small
• chee chako: newcomer (Alaska)
• saghalie: up, high place
• saghalie tyee: God
• potlatch: a ceremony of giving away or destroying one's possessions to gain social status. In Chinook Jargon, the word potlatch could mean simply to "give."
• Al-ki: by and by (the state motto of Washington and a neighborhood in West Seattle)
• Klahanie: Outside, outdoors.
 
Chinook Jargon: See Also ►