Snass Sessions 11.11.2023: Johnny Nawili Adam, Canoe Creek, 18941
David Douglas Robertson, PhD
Consulting linguist, Spokane, WA, USA
Background information on this writer:
I haven’t found out much about Johnny Nawili Adam yet.
Note:
You’ll see in this letter that he speaks at least 3 languages, and is highly literate, knowing how to write a considerable amount in standard English as well as shorthand Chinook Jargon and Secwepemctsín. He’s also one of the few Indigenous writers to use European-style punctuation (in this case, periods) in his writing, and to continue using it throughout his letter.
Canoe Creek, BC is a northern Secwépemc (“Shuswap”) Salish community in south-central British Columbia. It’s very possible that the writer’s second name, that I’ve put as Nawili here, is actually the baptismal name Noel.
There’s usually little or no punctuation in the Indigenous-written letters, so what you see here is pretty much my additions of commas, periods, and so on.
If you see [SIC] in square brackets it shows possible mistakes in the writing; other material [in square brackets] is inferred and added by me.
*Asterisked* material shows an uncertain reading of the Chinuk Pipa writing.
Underlined material is in other languages than Chinook Jargon.
Anything < in angled brackets > is non-Chinuk Pipa, i.e. written as standard English in the original document.
The notation (Ø) shows that you can understand a clause to contain either “silent IT”or a “silent preposition”.
I have put line breaks between every clause-containing sentence, and added punctuation, to help the reader. (But I’ve preserved each writer’s own idiosyncratic punctuation marks.) I’m sometimes experimenting with extra indentation to show the existence of subordinate clauses. (And to reflect the flow of the speaker’s thoughts.)
Many thanks to all of you who participated in this Snass Session!
IN THE TRANSLATION OF THIS DOCUMENT, I’VE PUT IN A LINE IN ITALICS, TO SHOW THE LITERAL MEANING OF EACH “WORD”.
The letter, transcribed & with a suggested translation:
< Canoe Creek B.C.
De. 27Th 1894. >‘Canoe Creek, B.C., Dec. 27th 1894.’
< Dear and Rev Father > ‘Dear and Rev. Father’
Thyursdi ukuk pulakli naika mamuk pipa kopa maika Pir Lshyun kopa Kamlups
‘It’s Thursday; tonight I’m writing to you, Pere Le Jeune at Kamloops.’ Ankati naika mamuk pipa kopa maika Patlach nus2 pipa kopa naika3 Ikta maika mamuk
‘Some time ago I wrote to you (saying) “Give the newspaper to me.” What are you doing’ ilo patlach4 nus pipa kopa naika. Kwanisim naika wit maika5 pus
‘not giving the newspaper to me? I keep waiting for you to’ patlach nus pipa kopa naika kopa iht mun. Alta naika mamuk pipa kopa maika
‘give the newspaper to me for one month. Now I’m writing to you (saying)’ Tlus maika patlach ukuk nus pipa kopa naika. Alta naika ayu
‘ “You should give that newspaper to me. Now I’m mighty’ olo ukuk Chinuk pipa buk.6 Pus maika patlach nus pipa
‘hungry for that Chinook writing book. If you’ll give the newspaper’ kopa naika. naika chako yutl tomtom < X > Alta naika patlach7
‘to me, I’ll get glad-hearted. X Now I’m sending’ iht kwata kopa maika pus patlach nus pipa kopa naika alta
‘a quarter to you to give the newspaper to me now.’
2
Nus ‘news’ is from local English. It’s different from the usual form in the Kamloops Wawa newspaper, nyus, which probably reflects editor JMR Le Jeune’s French accent.3
The quotation Patlach nus pipa kopa naika is introduced in much the same way Indigenous storytelling works, i.e. the speaker doesn’t say “I said…”, but instead just quotes what was said. (In a native story, the quotation often is done in an imitation of the quoted speaker’s voice.) Look for another occurrence of this style of quoting soon after in this same letter.4
…ilo patlach… ‘…not giving…’ is a typical tenseless, subjectless clause in Northern Chinook Jargon, when following a main clause that has already told us who the subject is. (Here, ‘you’.) Learn this structure, if you want to talk Northern.5
Naika wit maika: in Chinuk Wawa, you ‘wait somebody’. You don’t ‘wait for somebody’. 6
…naika ayu olo ukuk… ‘I’m very much hungry (for) that…’ As with wit ‘wait’, in Chinuk Wawa, you’re ‘hungry something’. You’re not ‘hungry for something’. 7
Often in Northern Dialect, patlach ‘give’ is used for ‘sending’ something, especially money.
Alta naika tiki wawa kopa maika. Tlus maika patlach nus pipa8 kopa
‘Now I want to talk to you. Please give the newspaper (issue) for’ kanawi mun Alki naika piii kopa maika kanawi kopa [sic] mun.9 Tlus maika mamuk
‘each month. Now I’ll pay you for all of them, by the month. Please do’ kakwa naika wawa kopa maika alta. Pus maika mamuk kakwa naika wawa naika
‘like I’m asking to you now. If you’ll do like I’m asking I’ll’ aias tlus tomtom. pus maika tiki hilp kopa naika10 kopa Chinuk pipa
‘be very happy, if you want to help me out with the Chinook paper’ Wawa. pus maika patlach Chinuk pipa kopa naika kakwa naika wawa. Kopit
‘the Wawa, if you’ll give the Chinook paper to me like I’m saying. That’s all’ ukuk kopa naika. Kopit naika wawa kopa maika Pir Lshyun
‘from me. I’m done talking to you, Pere Le Jeune.’ Alta naika wawa put.h ma kukpi11 Pir Lshyun Naika wawa klahawiam
‘Now I say putucw me7 kukpi, Pere Le Jeune. I say goodbye’ tilikom, Pir Lshyun
‘friend, Pere Le Jeune.’ Naika Shoni Nawili Adam kopa Kanu Krik ilihi
‘I’m Johnny Noel* Adam from Canoe Creek reserve.’ nas wah*12 ‘??????’
8
By my count, Johnny repeats his point, ‘give me the newspaper’, at least 7 times. This seems like traditional Indigenous ways of talking, as in stories, where an important point gets repeated e.g. 4 times. 9
Kanawi kopa mun = ‘all (of them), by the month’. If Johnny had written kopa kanawi mun, he would have been saying ‘for every month’. 10
Hilp kopa naika (literally ‘help to me’) can also be said in 3 other synonymous ways! All of these are okay too: Mamuk hilp kopa naika (‘make help to me’) / Hilp naika (‘help me’) / Mamuk hilp naika (‘make help me’).11
Put.h ma kukpi is in Johnny’s tribal language, Secwepemctsín.12
The words that look like nas wah might also be Secwepemctsín. They resemble known words for ‘go’ and ‘be