Making Wawa
Subtitle: the genesis of Chinook jargon
By: George Lang.
Series: First nations languages
Publisher: UBC Press; University of British Columbia Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Vancouver
Language: eng; chn
Number of pages: 198
ISBN-13: 9780774815260
Subjects: Chinook jargon -- History.; Indians of North America -- Northwest, Pacific -- History.; Whites -- Northwest, Pacific -- Relations with Indians -- History.; Chinook jargon -- Glossaries, vocabularies, etc.
Genres: Glossaries, vocabularies, etc.
Description: "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 of the engagés or voyageurs provided additional vocabulary and a set of viable cultural practices, a key element of which was marital bonding with Indian and métisse 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 A previously unpublished glossary of Wawa circa 1825 is included as an appendix to this volume."--pub. desc.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [175]-185) and index.

Includes some text in Chinook jargon.