KLAHANIE [KLA’-ha-nie], [KLA’-a-ni], or occasionally [klagh-anie’] — adverb Meaning: Out; outside; outdoors; without; exterior. Origin: Chinook tlakhani “out”; “outside”. ‘Klahanie’ (sometimes rendered as ‘klahani’, ‘klahhanie’, or ‘klaghanie’) means ‘outside’, but can be used to describe a variety of actions relating to the external, such as “mamook klahanie okoke” (put that…...
Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Illahee
ILLAHEE [IL’-la-hie] or occasionally [ilee-ee] — noun. Meaning: Country, land, ground, earth, region, district, soil, dirt, the place where one resides. Origin: Chinook, ilahekh ‘land’, ‘earth’ < From a Lower Chinook stem -lkh, preserved intact in the Kathlamet and Upper Chinook forms ilkh ‘land’; contracted in Lower Chinook due to…...
Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Sitkum
SITKUM [SIT’-kum] — noun, adjective. Meaning: Half; half of something; part of something; the middle. Origin: From Chinookan; both inflected (noun) and uninflected (particle) n-shitkum ‘I am half’; a-shitkum ‘she is half’; shítkum ‘(at the upper) half’; Clatsop asitko, The word sitkum is used to describe either of two equal…...
Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Klonas
KLONAS [klo’-NASS] — adverb. Meaning: Perhaps; probably; doubtful; might; may; maybe so; I do not know; who knows Origin: Chinook tlunas ‘maybe,’ ‘don’t know’ Klonas (sometimes spelled as klonass) is a word used as an expression of indecision, uncertainty, or doubt in the mind of the speaker, and in many…...
SLAHAL
GAMES OF THE FIRST NATIONS: SLAHAL Slahal or Lahal (with slight spelling and pronunciation variations including Sla-hal, Slhahal, Lahall, and Lahalle), is a gambling game of the indigenous peoples of Cascadia, especially along the Salish Sea, which combines song, sacred ritual, intense competition and guesswork. Known by titles such as…...
Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Kull
KULL [kul] — adjective. Meaning: Hard (in substance); solid; hard to do; tough; difficult. Origin: From a Chinookan particle q’ul ‘strong’; q’ul-q’ul ‘strong’, ‘hard’, ‘too difficult’. A word used to describe making something “hyas kull” (tight; fast), or changing the state of something such as “mamook kull” (to harden;…...
2021 U.S. Census Redistricting: Exploring Watershed Based Voting Districts
Every 10 years, the United States completely erases current voting district borders, and creates new ones using census data that has tracked demographic changes over the past ten years.How these districts are drawn is incredibly important, and in many states, is used as a tool of disenfranchisement, racism, and reinforcing…...
Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Lemooto
LEMOOTO [le-MOO’-to] or [lam’-MU-to] — noun. Meaning: Sheep; mutton. Origin: French, les moutons, “sheep” Sometimes spelled as lemoto or limoto, it refers to sheep, and naturally all things related to them, such as “man lemooto” (ram), “klootchman lemooto” (ewe), “tenas lemooto” (lamb), and “lemooto house” (fold, sheepfold). The word was…...
The Sound of the Yurok language (Numbers, Sentences & Phrases)
Yurok (also Chillula, Mita, Pekwan, Rikwa, Sugon, Weitspek, and Weitspekan) is an Algic language. It is the traditional language of the Yurok of Del Norte County and Humboldt County on the northwest coast of California. The name Yurok comes from the Karuk ‘yuruk’, literally meaning ‘downriver’. The Yurok traditional name…...
