CHAPTER XII. 



[INOOK is a queer jargon. It is said 

 to have been manufactured many 

 years ago by an employe of the Hud- 

 son Bay Fur Company, who taught the 

 principal chiefs of various Indian tribes to speak 

 it in order to facilitate traffic with them. From that 

 time it has grown and spread until almost every 

 Indian of the North Pacific Coast, and many inland 

 tribes of Washington, British Columbia, and Oregon 

 speak it. White men of all nations who live in this 

 country speak it, and even the almond-eyed China- 

 man learns it soon after locating here. In short, it 

 is the court language of the Northwest, as the sign 

 language is of the plains. It is made up from vari- 

 ous Indian tongues, with a few English, or rather 

 pigeon-English, French, and Spanish words inter- 

 mixed. There are only about 1,500 words in the 

 language and it is very easy to learn. Of course, it 

 is woefully lacking in strength and beauty. You 

 will often want to say something that can not be said 

 in Chinook, because there are no words in that 

 jargon with which to say it. But it is made to 

 answer the purposes of trade, travel, and barter, in 

 common forms. For instance: 



"Kah-tah si-ah ko-pa Frazer chuck?" would be, 

 " How far is it to the Frazer river?" 



"Yutes kut klat-a-wa la-pe-a," "Only a short 



(102) 



