Sihks, Seeks, shikhs - a friend
Used only towards men (historically). I await the
debate in the emerging Chinook internet community as to whether this can
be used as a form of address for or term used to refer to a woman; I propose
klootchman sikhs as a compromise.
Man - man, male
Used generally, but more in reference to a non-native
than a native, for whom the term siwash would have been used. An
optional plural form ending in "-s" was also occasionally used.
Siwash - man, a male
From the French "sauvage", but widely used by natives
in frontier times as a self-descriptive. Generally an Indian male,
although could refer to men as a general concept. Technically a male
human, in the sense of "human being" as an identity, as common in other
native languages. Potentially (even usually) derisive in modern usage
(although only old-timers would know the word), this was originally a neutral
descriptive despite its context in the original French. Its best-known
use today is in the name of Siwash Rock in Vancouver's Stanley Park, which
legend attributes as a man turned to immortal stone in reward for his virtue.
Klootchman - woman, a female. Technically a female of any species,
but normally by itself an Indian woman
Klootchman would generally mean "woman", and could
also mean "women", although an "-s" might be added for the plural sense
as with words like tillikum(s) and whiteman(s). Klootchman
generally only meant an Indian woman, unless combined with another word,
such as itwsoot klootchman - she-bear; King george klootchman
and/or Boston klootchman for a white lady, perhaps, but there weren't
many in the old days. NB do not under any circumstances use the word "squaw"
to refer to an Indian woman; its modern meaning is highly derogatory and
its etymology is a descriptive vulgarity in Cree for vagina. Klootchman
may have its source in the word kloosh for "good", as in "a good
'man' to have around", or "someone who makes you feel good". This may be
wrong and I stand to be corrected by another etymology, if someone has
one.
Kingchauch, kingchauchman - Britisher of any species, also written
King George Man
This term remained in use during Victoria's reign although
it was coined during the era of George III. On the
British/Canadian side of the border, the Chinook term for the English language
was King george wawa or King George lalang. The Chinook term
for England or Britain was King George Illahee.
Boston, Boston Man - American
Most fur-trade era Americans were Bostonian, and the
first American ships in the region were all Boston traders. The town
of Boston Bar in the Fraser Canyon, which was the main American encampment
north of Yale and Emory Bar during the 1858 Gold Rush, owes its name to
this Chinook usage. The Chinook term for the
United States was Boston Illahee. On the US side of the border,
the Chinook term for the English language was Boston wawa or Boston
lalang. In British Columbia, this same term would have meant double-talk,
or the loud and drawling dialects and manner of speech of American miners
and cowboys.
Dutch, Dutchman - German
Conceivably used for Scandinavians and Netherlanders
also, for whom there were no separate words in the jargon, although Scandinavians
in particular were omnipresent in the early history of colonization on
both sides of the border.
China, Chinaman - Chinese person
Also this term is now considered derogatory in English,
it had no such associations in Chinook, as is the case with Siwash
(similarly derogatory in English), Dutchman (mildly derogatory in
English), and Boston (sometimes mildly derisive in Chinook). Chinook
derisives were formed by the addition of pejorative adjectives, such as
cultus, tamanass, or mesachie. Although
this is no longer politically correct and its modern usage is condemned,
many Chinese of long residence in North America still use this word for
themselves. It had its origin as a neutral descriptive coined either by
natives or by the Chinese themselves, but acquired derogatory overtones
late in the 19th Century, although natives and many non-Chinese continued
to use it casually into the later 20th Century until it became controversial
after the heightening of ethnic sensitivities in BC with the massive influx
of Chinese immigrants in the 1980s and 90s. Although held in regard by
long-time British Columbians of all races as a quaint term, and even an
archaic one almost abandoned by the time of the controversy, which caused
the replacement of obscure frontier-era placenames with new ones by substituting
"Chinese" for "China". Similar revisions of the toponymy in Alberta and
the adjoining states are on the agenda. The Chinook terms for the
country of China were China Illahee or Chinaman Illahee,
for the Chinese language China wawa or Chinaman wawa, or
China lalang or Chinaman lalang.
Kanaka - Hawaiian person
This Hawaiian word is part of the BC landscape and was
part of the argot of early BC; some Chinook dictionaries include it as
a regular part of the jargon, indicating its early provenance in the fur
trade and the gold rush era rather than a non-Chinook import into the provincial
dialect. Usually given in Chinook lexicon publications as meaning
"local" in Hawaiian, this is incorrect, as I have been informed by Leilani
at the Hawaiian
Language Page that the correct meaning is "human being, man,
person, individual, party, mankind, population" - i.e. the Hawaiian equivalent
of the native connotation of siwash. Leilani, in informing
me of the correction, went on to say "Just as it is culturally-incorrect,
in these enlightened times, to refer to an Asian as an Oriental, which
is a European appellation, culturally-aware Hawaiians
refer to themselves (ourselves) in the language of
the land...as kanaka maoli...fig., true Hawaiians, to distinguish
them/ourselves from the immigrant-descended and Hawaiians-at-heart.
Indigenous Hawaiian and native Hawaiian would be English
approximations of the term, kanaka maoli. Literally, it translates
then to: true humans (!). Nothing like an improved
self-concept (s)!". Kanaka
Bar, Kanaka Creek, and the now-vanished Kanaka Rancherie
on Vancouver's Lost Lagoon all indicate areas of Hawaiian activity and
settlement in the old colony; Kanaka Creek is across the Fraser
from Fort Langley and Derby, and would have been the domicile of the HBC's
Hawaiian employees (1820s). There are still many old family links to Hawaii
in BC, especially among the natives, with whom BC's Kanaka population
readily intermarried.
Pasiooks - French
This term is derived from the word paseese (blanket
or woolen cloth), one of the most culturally important trade goods introduced
to the region by the French-speaking voyageur employees of the fur
companies. The "-ooks" ending denotes a living being, i.e.
"clothmen". Gibbs notes that this term was applied to all fur company
employees on the Interior side of the Cascade Range/Coast Mountains, but
on the Coast it was exclusively used in reference to the French Canadian
voyageurs. Pasiooks wawa or pasiooks lalang - the French
language.
Scotchman - a Scot
This has survived as a family name in the Lillooet
region.
Klale man, klale siwash - a black person or a mulatto.
As in other parts of North America, blacks were easily
accepted by native societies. Most blacks and mulattos in the Northwest
were British subjects, usually West Indian, including the Crown Colony
of Vancouver Island's first Governor and first troops/police. There were
extremely few blacks, if any, in the American part of the Northwest until
after the American Civil War. One of the first ships in the region, the
Venus, had an all-African crew composed of "negroes of Lolo"; the
Venus' fate is unknown, as there is no record of her after her presence
in the area of the BC coast around 1790. Pictures of goldrush-era native
graveyards in the Fraser Canyon feature black mortuary statues, with West
Indian-style head-bandanas and polka-dotted knee-breeches.
Shama - White man.
Not strictly a Chinook word, but in wide use in many
variants throughout Salishan and adjoining areas. Emphasized or otherwise
mutated vowels indicate derision and hostility, and probably menace.
Whiteman - White man or whites in general.
Whiteman was used mostly by natives; it is not
common among them today; means any person of European extraction. Whitemans
is an alternative plural, but can also be the genetive.Unlike King
george man, Boston man, Scotchman, and Dutchman,
which are nationality-specific, this term would have been used when speaking
of white people in general, or in the aspect of an individual being white,
or typically white. Although not specifically a derisive, it was
commonly used in combination with pejoratives like cultus and
mesachie. Pronounced as one word, with vowels more or less
the same as in English but with an emphasis on the first syllable. The
"a" in "man" is still an audibly broad "a" rather than a neutral vowel
as in the English prononciations of "Dutchman" or "Englishman". Usually
had a derogatory meaning, and was most common in the forms tamanass
whiteman (evil or wicked white man) and cultus whiteman (bad
whiteman, worthless whiteman, idiot), either of which in the plural would
have referred to the general iniquity of white people as a whole. This
colourful usage is unfortunately virtually extinct even among the natives.
The most common modern native term in the region is shama (Salishan
spelling "sama7", the "7" being a glottal stop), which can also have derogatory
meanings especially if the vowels ar changed or lengthened; this is not
properly a Chinook jargon word, but was probably in wider use among native
speakers of Chinook in BC than was King George man or Boston
man, especially in Salishan-speaking areas and/or when the context
made no distinguishment of Americans and Brits was intended. In such cases
where no national affiliation was meant or relevant, whiteman was
likely more often used in speech by natives with non-natives because of
the impolite tone of the more purely native term shama. NB the plural
of this and other "-man" terms was not made in the English way but by the
addition of numerical or other modifiers; e.g. hiyu whiteman (many
white men). The optional use of a final "-s" in addition to the modifier
was also acceptable ("hiyu whitemans"), but the addition of a final "s"
was more generally used for the possessive as in English. Most nouns were
the same in the plural as they were in the singular, especially for words
of pure native origin such as those for animals.
Sitkum siwash - half-breed.
The term "Metis" (pron. "maytsee") was not used in historic
BC except in reference to fur company voyageurs, who would more
commonly have been referred to as "Canadien", which was often their own
word for themselves. Most fur company Canadien employees would have
been of Metis stock, and technically sitkum siwash although not
generally regarded as such, but the latter term would have been reserved
for people whose native ancestry/culture was local.
Cultus whiteman - evil white man, worthless white man, dishonest
white man.
NB cultus - also means flawed, broken, nothing.
Cultus siwash - bad Indian, untrustworthy Indian, lazy Indian.
Obviously cultus can be used to generate other
derisives, but these two were the most common historical usages, along
with cultus boston. A truly evil, malicious individual would have
been described or accused as tamanass whiteman, tamanass siwash,
tamanass boston, etc. or as mesachie whiteman, mesachie
siwash, mesachie boston; mesachie means crooked, untrustworthy,
or malign, whereas tamanass indicates evil, malice, crazy viciousness.
All of these derisive forms would have been used commonly as expletives
and/or to-the-face denunciations. The same derisives applied collectively
would tend to use a plural form, if available - cultus whitemans
("whites suck"), tamanass boston mans ("damn Yankees").
Lemolo - wild, crazy. Lemolo boston - crazy American,
etc.
Pelton - a fool, foolish, insane, stupid
Siks, sihks, seeks - friend
Tillikum, tillicum - friend
May also mean "people", especially if in plural form
with "-s"
Tenas, tenas tillikums - children ("little people")
Tenas means the young of any species. Moxt
naika tenas - I have two children. Mitlite tenas - to be with
child. Mahsh tenas - to give birth.
Self - self. Nika self - myself, mesika self -
yourselves.
Huiloma, huloima - other, another, someone else, a different
one
Huloima tillikum - stranger
Cheechako - newcomer, stranger, literally "just came"
Cheechako can also mean "tenderfoot", although this mild
derisive context is later and more regional, being associated with the
Klondike gold rush.
Naika, nika - I, me, mine
Maika, mika - you, yours (sing.)
Nesaika, nesika - We, us, ours
Mesaika, mesika - You, yours (pl.)
Yaka, yahka, yokka - him, her, they and his, hers, theirs
Klaska - they, them, theirs
Okook klaska, oke klaska - they, those
present.
Yaka could also be used for the 3rd person plural.
Okoke, okook, oke - this, that, here
Ka, kah - what, that
Also where, whither, whence. NB kah-kah
- here and there, wherever . Konaway kah - everywhere.
Klaksta - who, someone, which one
Oke klaksta, okook klaksta - he who.
Na, nah - who, which one
Na was used in both interrogative and pronomial
senses. It was also used as an interrogative particle to turn a phrase
into a question, or as a querying interjection. Gibbs says that in
Yakima it is used as the vocative. See also interjections.
Halo klaksta - no one, nobody
Konaway tillikum - everyone, everybody
Kunamoxt - both, both of them
Kunamoxt kahkwa - both alike, "they are the same",
"they are equal"
Ikt-ikt - someone, someone or other, whatever, something "here
and there"
Whit, wid - used as a suffix meaning "one who is"
Not exactly a pronoun; used as in kliminawhit
(liar), chee whit ("new one"), and klee whit ("laughing one").
This particle could be very useful in the coining of new words - e.g. mesachie
whit - evil bastard, cooley whit - runner, hyak whit
- fast one.
Identity & Ethnicity
| Status | Family &
Relationships | Pronouns
Male, man - man, siwash
Siwash was used only in reference to Indian men,
and has over time acquired a somewhat derogatory tone if used by non-natives.
With the exception of Kanaka, other masculine ethnicities were formed
using the "-man" suffix. Man by itself would also generally refer
to non-Indians.
Female, woman - klootchman
American woman - Boston klootchman.
Englishwoman - Kingchauch klootchman - . Doe
- Mowitch klootchman. Female dog, bitch - Kamooks
klootchman, dog klootchman. etc.
British, English - Kingchauchman, kingchauch, king george man,
king george
English language - kingchauch wawa, king george
wawa, kingchauch lalang, king george lalang. These terms were
used on the British side of the border.
American - Boston, Boston Man (most fur-trade
era Americans were Bostonian)
English language - Boston wawa, Boston lalang.
These terms could also refer to the American dialect or manner of speech.
German - Dutch, Dutchman
Dutchman was conceivably used for Scandinavians
and Netherlanders also, as there were no separate words for these ethnicities
in the jargon. The term Dutchman was widely used throughout
North American in reference to Germans (who use Deutsch to describe
themselves), rather than to Netherlanders for whom the English usage is
reserved. The German language - Dutchman wawa, dutchman
lalang.
Chinese person - China, Chinaman
Also this term is now considered derogatory in English,
it had no such associations in Chinook, as is the case with Siwash
(similarly derogatory in English) and Dutchman (mildly derogatory
in English). Chinook derisives were formed by the addition of pejorative
adjectives. The Chinese language - China wawa, chinaman
wawa, china lalang, chinaman lalang - more particularly Cantonese (other
dialects of Chinese being rare in North America in those days).
Hawaiian - Kanaka
From Hawaiian kanaka for "human being"; kanakamaoli
- "true human being", i.e. a native Hawaiian. The Hawaiian language
- kanaka wawa, kanaka lalang.
French, a Frenchman - Pasiooks
The French language - Pasiooks wawa, pasiooks
lalang.
Scottish, a Scot - Scotchman
There was no "Scotchman lalang", Gaelic being
largely unspoken in the Northwest despite a large Scots population, especially
on the British side of the border. There was no term for Irishman,
except, perhaps for Irishman or Irish.
Klale man, klale siwash - a black person or a mulatto. As in other parts of North America, blacks were easily accepted by native societies. Most blacks and mulattos in the Northwest were British subjects, usually West Indian, including the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island's first Governor and first troops/police. There were extremely few blacks, if any, in American part of the Northwest until after the American Civil War. One of the first ships in the region, the Venus,had an all-African crew composed of "negroes of Lolo"; the Venus' fate is unknown, as there is no record of her after her presence in the area of the BC coast around 1790.
Shama - White man. Not strictly a Chinook word, but in wide use in many variants throughout Salishan and adjoining areas. Emphasized or otherwise mutated vowels indicate derision and hostility, and probably menace.
Whiteman - White man or whites in general. Whitemans is an alternative plural, but can also be the genetive. Pronounced as one word, with vowels more or less the same as in English but with an emphasis on the first syllable.
Sitkum siwash - half-breed. The term "Metis" (pron. "maytsee") was not used in historic BC except in reference to fur company voyageurs
Cultus whiteman - evil white man, worthless white man, dishonest white man. NB cultus - also flawed, broken, nothing.
Cultus siwash - bad Indian, untrustworthy Indian, lazy Indian.
Obviously cultus can be used to generate other derisives, but these
two were the most common historical usages, along with cultus boston.
A truly evil, malicious individual would have been described or accused
as tamanass whiteman, tamanass siwash, tamanass boston,
etc. or as mesachie whiteman, mesachie siwash, mesachie
boston; mesachie means crooked, untrustworthy, or malign, whereas
tamanass indicates evil, malice, crazy viciousness. All of these
derisive forms would have been used commonly as expletives and/or to-the-face
denunciations. The same derisives applied collectively would tend to use
a plural form, if available - cultus whitemans ("whites suck"),
tamanass boston mans ("damn Yankees").
Lemolo - wild, crazy. Lemolo boston - crazy American
, etc.
Huiloma - other, another, someone else
Cheechako - newcomer, stranger (also tenderfoot)