Making Wawa: The Genesis of Chinook Jargon (First Nations Languages) - Hardcover

George Lang

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0774815264 ISBN 13: 9780774815260

Publisher: UBC Press, 2008

Synopsis

A two-edged sword of reconciliation and betrayal, Chinook Jargon (aka Wawa) arose at the interface of "Indian" and "White" societies in the Pacific Northwest. Wawa’s sources lie first in the language of the Chinookans who lived along the lower Columbia River, but also with the Nootkans of the outer coast of Vancouver Island. With the arrival of the fur trade, the French voyageurs provided additional vocabulary and cultural practices. Over the next decades, ensuing epidemics and the Oregon Trail transformed the Chinookans and their homeland, and Wawa became a diaspora language in which many communities seek some trace of their past. A previously unpublished glossary of Wawa circa 1825 is included as an appendix to this volume.

About this title

From the Author:

George Lang was the dean of arts at the University of Ottawa and the president of the Association des facultés et établissements de lettres et de sciences humaines (AFELSH).

Synopsis:

A two-bladed sword of reconciliation and betrayal, Chinook Jargon (aka Wawa) arose at the interface of 'Indian' and 'White' societies in the Pacific Northwest. Wawa's sources lie first in the language of the Chinookans who lived along the lower Columbia River, but also with the Nootkans of the outer coast of Vancouver Island. With the arrival of the fur trade, the French of the engages or voyageurs provided additional vocabulary and a set of viable cultural practices, a key element of which was marital bonding with Indian and metisse women.These women and their children were the first fluent speakers of Wawa. After several decades of contact, ensuing epidemics brought demographic collapse to the Chinookans. Within another decade the region was radically transformed by the Oregon Trail. Wawa had acquired its present shape, but lost its homeland. It became a diaspora language in which many communities seek some trace of their past. A previously unpublished glossary of Wawa circa 1825 is included as an appendix to this volume."Making Wawa" will attract the attention of linguists, especially those involved in contact linguistics and the languages of the Pacific Northwest.

It will also interest historians and other scholars interested in Native and gender studies, cross-cultural conflict, and transculturation.

About this edition

• Publisher: UBC Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0774815264
• ISBN 13: 9780774815260
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 216