CHINOOKAN LANGUAGI<:S. 



49 



Le Jeune (J. M. K.) — (Jontiimed. 



ever Hini'O, cither for faking ilowu iioteH or for 

 corri«iM)iirl(;U<'e. It was ouly in July, 1890, that 

 tho idea first caiiio to try tlm shorthaud as an 

 easy phonetic writing forthc Indians of British 

 (.'oluinhia. The first trial bi-came a surcess. 

 At the end of S<'i»tt;nilMT, 1«90, a poor Indian 

 '•ripple, iiaiiii'il (Jharlcy-Alexis Mayoos, from 

 the Lower Xicola, saw tlie writing for the first 

 time, and got the intuit ion of the system at first 

 sight. IIc8<;t to deciphira fi-w pagisof Indian 

 prayers in shortliand. In less than two montiiH 

 ho learned every word of liiem, and ho soon 

 began to eomnniuieate his learning to his 

 friends and relatives. 



"Through his endeavors some eight or ten 

 Indians at Cold water, Nicola, B. C, became 

 thoroughly acquainted with the writing system 

 before April 1st, 1891. In July, 18U1, the first 

 lessons were given to the Shusliwap Indians; 

 they lasted an hour every day for four or five 

 days. Three or four of the best .^oung men 

 went on studying what tliey had learned, and 

 were delighted to find tlieniselves able to 

 correspond in shorthand in the early fall. 

 During the winter montlis they helped to prop- 

 agate the system of writing among their people. 

 In the meantime Mayoos had come to Kam- 

 loops and was pushing the work ahead among 

 the .young people there. 



•'In December, 1891, the system was intro- 

 duced U) the North Thomson Indians ; in Jan- 

 uary, 1892, to those at IJouglas Lake; in Febru- 

 ary at Spuzzum and North Bend; and, last of 

 all, in March, to those at Deadnian's Creek, 

 near Sarvina. Soon after, Indian letters came 

 from William's Lake. In May, 1892, a few 

 lessons were given at St. Mary's Mission to 

 the Lower Fraser and seacoast Indians. Now 

 the Indians teach each other and are verj- 

 anxious to learn on all sides. The most 

 advanced understand the value of the letters 

 and the spelling of the words ; l)ut the greatest 

 number begin by reading the words, then learn 

 the syllables by comparing the words together, 

 and at last come to the letters. They learn by 

 analysis and much quicker than by synthesis. 



"The 'Kamloop AVawa ' was first issued in 

 May, 1891, and in eight mcmthly numliers gave 

 the rudiments of stenography and the Chinook 

 hymns as first Chinook reader. 



" Withno. 9, February Ist, 1892, it has become 

 weekly, and has ever since continued to reach 

 every week the ever increasing number of sub- 

 scribers. It is now issued at 250 copies, 4 

 pages, 12mo, weekly. A supplement of equal 

 size issued whenever convenient. The first 

 volume of the Kamloops Wawa closed last 

 June with number 32. Vol. II will tenninate 

 with no. 58, Dec. 25, 1892. Contents: 1" Ele- 

 ments of Stenography in Chinook and English. 

 2° Chinook and Latin Hymns. 3" A number of 

 Indian news. 4" Beginning of Sacreil History. 

 5° "Weekly Calendar beginning with March 1st, 

 '92. 6° Gospel for every Suudaj-. 7" Some 

 prayers in Shusliwap. 8" A few hymns in 

 CHIN 4 



Le Jeune (J. M. R.) — (JoiitinufMl. 



Shushwai» and Chinook. 9' A few English 

 lessons. See nos. :j:{, 34, 35. 10" Narratives ol 

 early Church History, St. Mary Magdalen, St. 

 James, etc. 



" The Kamloo]is rimnographer had its first 

 number issued in June. 1892. Six numbers are 

 now ready, illustrating: 1" How shortliand is 

 taught to the natives. 2' Alphabet and rules 

 of shorthand. '.i" Syllables and syllabical 

 tables. 4" 1st reading books of shorthand— lU 

 Iiages monthly. The intention is, in the follow- 

 ing niimbers. to make a study of abbreviative 

 jdionography, showing how outlines can 1>6 

 made according to the Duployan system. We 

 do not pretend to tea<h shorth. ex professo, but 

 only to give to those interested all the informa- 

 tion that we can concerning our little work. 



[Seven numbers are issued, the last in Janu- 

 ary, 189.3, none containing Chinookan material.] 



"In preparation : 1" A second edition of the 

 Chinook and English Voc;tbulary. 2' Al- 

 manac for 1893, of which these pages are 

 iutende<l to become a part. 3" A Chinook trans- 

 lation, by lit. Kev. Bishop Durieu [q.v.] from 

 New Westminster, of Bishop Gilmour's Bible 

 History. 200 copies of the Euglisb text have 

 been received through the kindness of Eev. L. 

 N. St. Ouge, Troj-, N. Y. These will be inter- 

 leaved with the Chinook text so as to present 

 the illustrationsof theoriginal, and the EugUsh 

 text opposite its Chinook version. 



"Some will ask: How are all these works 

 issued.' Up to date nearly all the work, auto- 

 graphing and duplicating on the mimeograph, 

 has been done by the author during the leisure 

 hours of his missionary labors. But thatcourse 

 can not be carried on any longer. Hired work 

 has to be taken in. A few Indian women are 

 already trained to do the piinting. With their 

 cooi>eratiou 16 pages can be printed on 200 to 

 2.50 copies in a day. But that work has to be 

 jjaid for; and the resources are at an end. Peo- 

 ple have first wondered at the work ; some find 

 fault with it ; very little thus far has been done 

 to help it. 



" Now is the time for the friends of a good 

 cause to see if something better could not be 

 done in favor of this little work. Voluntary 

 donations will be accepted as a providential 

 blessing. Subscriptions to papers are also a 

 powerful means of support and improvement. 

 Many say : "Wo do not want to study the pho- 

 nography." But could they not take the i)apers 

 as specimens of curiosity, etc., in thcirlibraries .' 

 The first volume of the Kamloops Wawa is now 

 bound, and would make a very interestingitem 

 in any library. Price only $1..50. Send .$2.50 

 and have the numbers of the Kamloops Pho- 

 nographer as well. Please induce your friends 

 to contribute according to their means. By 

 doing .so, you by all means shall help to 

 - enlighten many who are still sitting in dark- 

 ness and in the shadow of death.'' 



The periodical is almost entirely the work of 

 Pere Le Jeune, but few contributions of Jac- 



