BC Chinook Jargon: Can You Speak British Columbian?

Chinook Jargon is an aboriginal trade language that was spoken widely throughout British Columbia and the West Coast. By 2014, there was only one speaker left in the province who had learned it from elders. Jay Powell asked his students to revitalize this language so the chain of learning would not be broken. One of his students, Sam Sullivan, initiated the BC Chinook Jargon project and website https://bcchinookjargon.ca . He then organized weekly Saturday morning Snass learning sessions that have been held every single week since June 2018. This attracted even more speakers.

The Kumtuks Curriculum of the Global Civic Policy Society is developing learning resource materials for public school teachers and the general public. It has contracted with David Robertson, the world expert on BC Chinook Jargon, to create a DIY learning course. Please check out the website.

Together we can revitalize BC Chinook Jargon and ensure that it continues to inspire us into the future.



Chinook Jargon or Wawa is intimately linked with the history of British Columbia. We might even call one form of it British Columbian. It was spoken widely on the west coast by both aboriginal and non aboriginal people. Much vocabulary comes from Chinook, Nuu-Chah-Nulth(west Vancouver Island) and the Salish language Chehalis with many words from French and Maritime English. The respect for native culture is evident as even European words are pronounced with Chinook accents.

Chinook Jargon is testimony to the roots of British Columbia in the multicultural capital of Fort Vancouver when the territory was called Columbia and the Governor John McLoughlin and his Deputy James Douglas maintained respectful and mutually beneficial relationships with indigenous people.

Chinook Jargon can be considered a Métis language. It was first noted in its current form as a first language of the children in Fort Vancouver; the schoolteacher wrote the first wordlist. The first linguist to study it in 1838, priest Modeste Demers, found it often spoken by families with French speaking fathers and Chinook speaking mothers; they told him the language developed in the milieu of the Hudson's Bay Company and was spread through its trade networks.

From its roots in the Nootka Jargon catalyzed by the voyage of Captain Cook, it developed in the milieu of the Honorable Hudson's Bay Company which governed when proto British Columbia extended down to California and its Capital was Vancouver [now in Washington State]. After the Border Treaty, the Company State and its Chinook Jargon speaking people moved north and morphed into what is now British Columbia.

The Kamloops Wawa newspaper was published in the late 1800s and early 1900s in a French shorthand script that was adapted for its use.

All First Nations languages in British Columbia have adopted many words from Chinook Wawa. Because it is so easy to learn we are developing learning materials for schools and we look forward to the time when Chinook Wawa will once again be accepted as language credits for universities as it was in the 1970s.

You can hear recordings of elders speaking Chinook Wawa in British Columbia here:

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You can hear an old Chinook Wawa document recited here:

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Sam Sullivan is a Member of the Order of Canada, a former Mayor of Vancouver and Cabinet Minister in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.