Carrier is generally regarded as one of three members of the central British Columbia subgroup of Athabaskan, the other two being Babine-Witsuwit’en and Tŝilhqot’in. Carrier proper consists of two regional dialect groups, Dakelh (ᑕᗸᒡ) and Southern Carrier, where the latter is divided into two subgroups, Fraser/Nechakoh and Blackwater which are further…...
YOUR CHINOOK WAWA WORD OF THE DAY: MESACHIE
MESACHIE [me-SA’-chi] — adjective Meaning: Bad; bitter; cruel; depravity; dissolute; dung; evil; filthy; grumpy; harm; immodest; immoral; iniquity; insolence; malign; naughty; nasty; obscene; sin; sinner; treacherous; ungodly; unrighteous; unruly; unworthy; vice; vile; wicked. Origin: Chinook, masáchi “Bad”; “wicked” < Chinook masachi “evil”,”nasty”,”malign” (Chinookan languages of Washington and Oregon) “Mesachie” (occasionally…...
YOUR CHINOOK WAWA WORD OF THE DAY: KWASS
KWASS [kwas] — Adjective, noun. Meaning: Afraid, Awe; Distrust; Dread; Fear; Fearful; Shy; Tame; Timid Origin: From a Chinookan particle k’wash ‘afraid’ Expressing notions of fear and hesitancy, the word “kwass” lends itself to an adequate description of a “kwass kalakala” (pigeon). Scary movies are designed to “mamook kwass” (scare,…...
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’…...
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…...
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…...
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: 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…...
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…...
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…...
