[Grovenet] ear mark this!

[Walt Wentz]

Hi David:
Point taken, but the Chinook jargon was distinct from the Chinook 
language, and was actually quite widespread-- even more so after the 
white invasion. It was used by Indian tribes as far north as 
Vancouver Island, also by Hudson's Bay trappers and by French, 
English and  American settlers, and it rapidly acquired new words 
from all those native and imported languages. So it had become a true 
lingua franca by the time of Oregon statehood, able to convey quite 
complex ideas between those diverse groups (missionaries preached in 
it). It was still in occasional use up until the 1890s.  Of course 
there are still Chinook place and business names all over the state.
Certainly a common language unites us. Just look at American vs. 
British English  ;^).  But natural self-interest impels people to 
learn the common language where they live, and I doubt that we could 
make English "more common" by making it "official." We could just 
make life more difficult for immigrants already struggling to adapt.
Walt

>  > Hey, if we're gonna be nativist, let's make the truly ORIGINAL 
>>  language of this state our official language:
>>  Nah, tillicums! Mahlie King Chautch wawa, mamook Chinook kopet ikt 
>>  wawa.  Nika hyas ticky! Okoke illahe yaka hyas kloshe! Siwash wawa 
>>  hyas skookum! Mahsh wawa konaway tillicum wawa Siwash!
>>
>
>I appreciate the intent, but the official language of the Tualatin 
>basin is Kalapooya not Chinook.  We share that with the region 
>drained by the Willamette River.  The Chinook language was spoken 
>along the main course of the Columbia River and in trade with the 
>Chinook.  The coast and eastern people had other languages as well.
>
>I am not being overly picky on this.  The people who lived in this 
>region at the time of Lewis and Clark were divided by their language 
>and cultures.  They did not widely share information about the coming 
>trappers, missionaries or settlers.  There was no common language to 
>carry the experiences of the Atlantic people to the plains people and 
>to the Pacific Northwest people.  That did not help them.  Each 
>separate people was divided, so they were less able to resist the 
>external forces that pushed them from their homes.
>
>The Columbia basin had a trade language, Chinook Wa Wa, but it was 
>neither official, nor especially conducive to transferring non-trade 
>information, since many in the region only knew the most rudimentary 
>words or none at all.  When it came time to negotiate the withdrawal 
>from traditional lands to reservations, each group was kept separated 
>by the settlers and by their language and culture, there was no 
>possibility for collective bargaining in the face of the unified 
>settlers/army.
>
>A common language has the potential to unite us.  The lack of a 
>common language has the potential to divide us.  Given the stresses 
>of society, I would prefer that we take the opportunity offered by a 
>common language.
>
>David
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