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YOUR CHINOOK WAWA WORD OF THE DAY: TAMAHNOUS
TAMAHNOUS [ta-MAH’-no-us] or [tam-án-a-was] or [tamá-nawas] or [tah-MAH’-na-wis] — noun, verb, adjective Meaning: Spirit; Guardian spirit; Personal Spirit; Ghost; Goblin; Witch; Magic; Luck; Fortune; Slight of hand; One’s particular forte, specialty, or strength Origin: Several possible, perhaps convergent etymologies: Chinook, itamánawas ‘guardian or familiar spirit; magic, luck, fortune; anything supernatural’ >i-ta-mánwash (spirit creature) Sahaptin tamánwit…
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Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Salal
SALAL [SAL’-AL] — noun. Meaning: The salal shrub or its berries.The salal berry; fruit of Gualtheria shallon. Origin: Chinook klkwushala ‘salal berries’. Sometimes called ‘sallal’ or ‘shallon’, the salal (Gaultheria shallon) is an evergreen shrub, restricted mainly to the Cascadian coastline which possess clustered dark-purple berrylike fruit about the size of the common grape. Before…
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Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Shot Olallie
Shot Olallie [shot O-lal’-lie] or [shat U-lal-i] — noun. Meaning: huckleberry Origin: English shot “bullet; lead” + Heiltsuk, olallie “salmon berry”; Chinook, ulali, “berry” The Red Huckleberry (vaccinium parvifolium) is a species native to western North America, where it is common in forests of Cascadia. In the Oregon Coast Range, it is the most common…
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Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Seahpo olallie
Seahpo olallie [se-áh-po O-lal’-lie] or [se-áh-pult U-lal-i] — noun. Meaning: Raspberry Origin: French, chapeau “hat”, “cap” + Heiltsuk, olallie “salmon berry”; Chinook, ulali, “berry” There are several varieties of raspberry in Cascadia, including the Snow Raspberry (Rubus nivalis), which is native to northwestern North America: British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, and far northern California, and the…
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Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Amote
AMOTE [a-MO’-teh] or [a-MU-tee], occasionally corrupted into [al-mo’-ta] — noun. Meaning: Strawberry (plant or fruit) Origin: Chinook amuti; Clatsop tl’amōte, “strawberry”. Fragaria chiloensis, the ‘beach strawberry’ or ‘coastal strawberry’, is one of two species of wild strawberries that were hybridized to create the modern garden strawberry. The plant’s natural range is the Pacific Ocean coast,…
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Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Olallie
Olallie [O-lal’-lie] or [U-lal-i] — noun. Meaning: Berry; berries; fruit Origin: From a Lower Chinook úlili ‘salmon-berry’; Heiltsuk, olallie “salmon berry” Originally this word referred only to salmon-berries (Rubus spectabilis), but in Chinook Wawa it grew to mean any sort of “pil olallie” (red berry), along the Salish Sea it became a catch-all for any…
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Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Klahanie
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 outside), “chako klahanie” (to emerge…
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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 ways equivalent to the Spanish…
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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 or corresponding parts into which…
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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 ‘the bone game’ (from the…