Chinuk Wawa in the Village

WSU Vancouver student Lorraine Botros recently attended a weekly discussion group in Portland, Ore., in which people practice and discuss Chinuk Wawa. Wawa is the jargon that was spoken around Fort Vancouver during the mid-1800s, allowing the more than 35 different ethnic groups living in that village just outside the fort's stockade to communicate. The local discussion group is led by Wawa language expert Evan Gardner. Botros and her CMDC 354.02 team plan to incorporate Wawa into their Fort Vancouver Mobile module under construction.

More information on Chinuk Wawa from the Oregon Encyclopedia

Here are some of the initial pilot clips that Botros, a student in the Creative Media and Digital Culture program's Digital Storytelling class this semester, shared (Thanks, Lorraine!):
House1
House edited
Chluch

And here are some other notes Lorraine shared:

Chinuk Wawa (Chinook Jargon) resources:
From Lorraine: "Evan Gardner provided me with resources to record the Chinuk Wawa phrases. He is willing to work with people to get a more complete recording in the future."
Gardner is the creator of the language game, "Where are your keys?"


A Brief Introduction to the "Where Are Your Keys?" Fluency Game from Willem Larsen on Vimeo.
He can be reached through Whereareyourkeys.org in the Contact Us section.

Another resource:
Eric Bernado, 'I am a Member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde from the Watlala Band of the Cascades of the Chinook peoples. I have a Masters in Education from the University of Oregon and am a semi-fluent speaker of Chinuk Wawa and will be teaching a community language class at Portland Community College starting in January (2011).' Learn Chinook Jargon blog.