SEPTEMBER 1, 2001
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Cape Flattery is not only one of the most beautiful places on earth, it is also
the northwestern most point of the continental United States.
branches before a low fire.
Makah Tribal Elder Edie Hottowe
acted as overseer for the salmon bake,
while onlookers sat attentively and ea
gerly around the blaze, tantalized by the
smokey salmon smell. The pink flesh
simmered deliriously, before being lifted
reverently and spread out on a table in
the longhouse for all to partake. Fd never
had baked salmon before, yet I, as well
as Bubba SoHappy, Tony Johnson,
Bobby Mercier, and salmon expert
Kathleen Feehan collectively reached the
consensus that this was some of the fin
est salmon in the history of mankind.
The perfect lead-in for an evening of
"Bone Game," I thought.
For the uninitiated, this holdover
game would seem rather strange and
that's because it is. While a handful of
Grand Ronders looked on, we merged
minds to interpret the pastime. Two
teams line up in chairs, facing one an
other and proceed to chant, beat drums
and exchange sticks and carved bones.
For all purposes the drum-beating and
stick beating seemed moot the sim
plest objective was to guess in which
hand was the unmarked bone of the se
lected team member. A correct guess
usually meant tossing one or two
marked sticks at the feet of the oppos
ing team, I think. While the other team
relinquished the bones, much hooting
and taunting would ensue and eventu
ally the longhouse grew so dark that we
could not even see the eyes of the oppos
ing team. All I know is that Hottowe
led the other team and she would lift
her hand and make a sign with her fin
gers, which would lead to mutters or
jeers, but no stick game ever goes un
finished and before I knew it a drum
was passed to me and Feehan'and I were
called on some occasions to palm the
bones. Feehan said she understood the
game, but I don't believe her.,
Either way, we sat the night, palm
ing the bones, exchanging the sticks and
even beating upon a loaned drum and
hollering occasionally. At some point
my team won.
I suppose it would be criminal to write
an entire article on the Chinuk Wawa
Conference and somehow omit anything
about the language. We were here to
learn Chinuk, and even one as linguis
tically disadvantaged, as myself could
not escape without learning something.
To begin, one must understand that
Chinuk is in fact a jargon a language
that evolved from other languages.
Though linguists have worked to make
the language presentable with an En
glish alphabet, one need only look at how
many words are spelled and realize that
new letters (to us) had to be invented
simply to spell out some words. Syl
lables exist that we westerners seem
physically unable to pronounce.
It is these observations that make the
accomplishments ofTony Johnson, as well
as the linguists and language specialists
present, like Maria Parker, Henry Zenk,
and Thomas W. Larsen, all that more im
pressive. As I learned, the most amazing as
pect of Chinuk is that the language has
managed to survive at all, given the
amount of effort corrupting it, misdirect
ing it and as we have learned from El
ders who attended boarding school, sti
fling it. Many a linguist, in an attempt
to help, or perhaps in self-serving, has
added fuel to that fire.
Many of the books written on Chinuk
by non-Natives, Johnson and Zenk
pointed out, have served the language
badly, in all likelihood because writers
went to no great lengths to verify details.
Yet one wouldn't think so from the way
some of them tout themselves. Edward
Harper Thomas' Chinook: A History and
Dictionary, which Johnson showed to
me, seems fairly modest compared to
George Shaw's The Chinook Jargon and
How to Use It; a complete and exhaus
tive lexicon of the oldest trade language
of the American Continent.
"Obviously, I don't think these guys
went to every village in the Northwest
to double-check pronunciations and
meanings," said Johnson.
Is then Chinuk lost? Not really, I re
alized after sitting in on the lectures
while Johnson, Zenk, Larsen, Parker
and Hottowe carried conversations en
tirely in Chinuk, much to the frustra
tion, though amused frustration, of on
lookers, myself included.
"In Grand Ronde, we have one of the
biggest living communities of Wawa
speakers," said Johnson (in English), "and
right now we have more people learning
it than losing it."
What then did I learn? For starters,
don't always assume that English will
translate into Chinuk. Such was the
heart of one of our exercises, when the
class divided into groups, one Wawa ex
pert per, with the intent of translating
well-known English phrases, proverbs
and short stories.
Given the directness of the language,
the more poetic phrases came out butch
ered or so distinct from their counter
parts as to be laughable.
"Curiosity killed the cat" roughly
translated into "there was a cat once
who wanted to know too much and so
he died." The Aesop moral of "beware
the wolf in sheep's clothing" became
"Have fear of the wolf who wears a coat
that looks like a sheep."
There was more, of course, language
exercises, but I suspect those were re
served for linguists than layman. This
after Maria Parker handed out a flyer
titled Chinook Jargon Words of
Nootkan Origin and their Correspond
ing Makah Pronunciations. Larsen
made his own presentation on his am
bitious plans to develop a Chinuk Wawa
Grammar Outline with Henry Zenk,
which years from now I predict people
will be thankful for.
Dave Robertson of Spokane, a name
Chinuk speakers will recognize, brought
forth one of the memorable moments of
the conference. In his hands were two
delicate, crispy and obviously very old
newspapers The Kamloops Wawa, a
jargon newspaper that reached a circu
lation of 2000 in British Columbia over
100 years ago. Robertson had gone so
far to translate the Kamloops language
into Wawa, which of course made it al
ready out of my league, but was impres
sive. Frankly, I'm not sure if many begin
ners took in a whole lot of Chinuk.
Maria Parker, who helped organize the
conference with Tony Johnson, even con
fided the same sentiment to me, though
she didn't seem too bothered by it. This
was the chance for Tribes to meet and
discuss their differences, linguistic and
cultural. It was a chance to get away
and have a little fun. And everybody
learned something.
It was, as we say in Chinuk, a classic
case of pus wik-ikta Xayka Xunk, aha
wik-ikta Xayka iskaX. D
By Chris Mercier
Now that many
Tribes are reviving
spiritual beliefs, lan
guages and are
clearly on the up-and-up
concerning
economic self-sufficiency, one might ask, what next?
Preserving sacred sites will spring into mind for
many who were lucky enough to be watching Or
egon Public Broadcasting on August 14.
Point of View's (P.O.V.) In The Light of Rever
ence premiered that Tuesday night at 10 p.m., a
documentary chronicling Native Americans'
struggles to maintain religious sites that are being
encroached upon more and more everyday. Directed
by acclaimed documentary maker Christopher
"Toby" McLeod and co-produced with Lumbee
(North Carolina) Tribal member Malinda Maynor,
the film acts as a subtle reminder that Native
American religious beliefs still go unnoticed and
regrettably, not respected.
Devil's Tower in the Black Hills, though feder
ally protected, draws rock-climbers from all over,
many of whom still insist on scaling the monument
even during June when Lakotas hold ceremonies
there. Park Rangers graciously request climbers
plan their ascents around June, but are under no
legal obligation to do so. Many, naturally, climb
anyway. By comparison to climb nearby Mount
Rushmore anytime of the year is a federal offense.
Wintu Tribal members in Northern California
experience similar discontent as their traditionally
sacred spring at Panther Meadows near Mt. Shasta
is experiencing a growing influx of non-Native spiri-
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tual admirers who visit the spring to "get back to na
ture," in the words of one visitor. Add to that the
proposal to build a ski resort and it's easy to see why
the Wintu are up in arms over the affair.
Steve Vincent, a Wintu member who lives in Falls
City, Oregon and acts as the Tribal Firetender of the
Sacred Fire, called the documentary "accurate and
quite profound." Vincent, who visits the spring every
year, said the site has indeed become overrun with
visitors, many of them New Age mystics.
"Oh yeah, you get people showing up and pulling out
their crystals, and bathing in the springs nude," he
said. "We even had some devil worshippers who tried
to leave their symbols around."
Vincent noted that In The Light of Reverence was
the first time Wintu Elder Flora Jones had allowed
herself to be filmed or photographed while in her spiri
tual trance during a ceremony. And though he doesn't
feel that the Wintus actually "own" the land, their
objections to excessive outsiders is justified because
they are, in some forms, caretakers.
"We are definitely stewards of the land," he added.
But neither the Lakotas nor the Wintus seem to
have it as bad as the Hopis of Arizona, whose sites are
violated by a num
ber of mining com
panies. Already
they have lost a
number of shrines
as one company,
run by a fairly re
morseless owner interviewed in the piece, has razed
the sites seeking highway gravel and pumice.
Another mining company that the Hopis sold
water rights to 30 years ago has sucked their un
derground lake so bare that already many sacred
springs are drying up. At another site ancient
petroglyphs have been chipped away by what ap
peared to be gunfire.
The ultimate question all three Tribes have is
what to do about their predicaments, as the Fed
eral Government hasn't exactly jumped to their
aid. It is here that In The Light of Reverence
closes, leaving viewers with an unofficial "to be
continued" and urging them, subtly, to do what
they can.
McLeod and Maynor spent roughly 10 years
making the film, which is narrated by actor Peter
Coyote and Tantoo Cardinal. P.O.V. has contrib
uted numerous films to public broadcasting, and
is renowned for their famous Talking Back end
ings, when they give viewers the opportunity to
voice their opinion, by telephone, camcorder, or
email. Many responses are often aired.
Tribal members interested in purchasing a copy
of In The Light of Reverence for home-use only
should contact Bullfrog Films at 1-800-543-3764
or www.bullfrogfilms.com.