Central Washington University - Hyakem / Kooltuo Yearbook (Ellensburg, WA)

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Concerning Alaskan Localisms. Answer any five. 1. 2 . 3. 4. 5. 6 . “cache,” “placer, tundra.” used? Define briefly. What is a “skip-jack? Define grubstake, “rocker,” (a) For what are “creepers’ (b) What are muk-luks”? .... Illustrate meaning of the verb “to mush.” How would you hit the trail ? Explain fully the difference between a “chechako” and a ’ sour-dough. Give meaning of the terms drift.” ledge.” cross-cut. footwall, and sample. UPPOSING that you were required to answer the foregoing questions, which are chosen at random from a host of possibilities, what percentage do you think you would make? They would be considered quite smrple byl the average Alaskan twelve-year-old. with the possible exception of the last questionwhich contamssomct) pica mining terms. And these, although constantly used in Alaska, and therefore quite indispensable to a com Dlete Alaskan vocabulary, would be equally characteristic of any other region where quartz mining is earned on. Localisms aVe alway n.er t ng. since through them we get little birds-eye glimpses, or snap-shots, of the geographyj climateTinduMrierancS social conditions of a locality. Thy speech doth bewray thee applies no less to localities than to individuals . ngs Alaskan are ginning to occupy a very prominent place in the public eye. After a lon « ' P Y Winkle sleep of obscurity and misunderstanding, the country is waking to a day of well-deserved appreciation and develop ment. Yet it is not surprising that wrong ideas and wild notions of Alaska have so long existed, for the country is not only immense but heterogeneous. The one term Alaska covers an expanse measuring 2.000 miles from extreme north to exj trerne south 1.800 miles from east to west, and containing several distinct and widely differing regions—the ukon or utf lerior country; the Nome district; the “Westward” country; and astly. the panhandle portion, or .SoutheasternAlask. j Each of these regions has its own special characteristics and its own loca isms. And while there are many of these latte I- t, litu. tKr teamboat ioke are good all over Alaska,” one can readily see that a detailed treatment of the subject would bJ tJS pTeUn affak. bUyond .he scope of this little chechako sketch-the dizziest hope of which is to afford S the reader an opportunity of adding a new word or two to his vocabulary, and. incidentally, perhaps, to sl ™Wj along with them a germ of interest in the fascinating, but wonderfully misunderstood Alaska by no means all. of the current Alaska localisms, are of Indian origin. Such is the word muk-luk. which means s r of overshoe or boot, resembling a moccasin with a high top. and made of tanned deer hide moose skin, or more commonly, of the fur of the hair seal. Being waterproof and at the same time pliable it is commonly used for mushing over the trail, in preference to other kinds of footgear. The “parka” is an outer garment of fur or heavy cloth—a little like a coatj with or without a hood, and elaborate or simple according to the fancy of the owner. These, with fur mittens, snowshoes and a dog team usually figure in the equipment of the winter traveler in the far north. Be it understood, however, that this is

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it was going to be a fight to the bitter end. Washtuena was fearfully strong in the back field, and it was evident from the beginning that our line had gone to pieces. The team missed Mack, and Romeo was not filling his place. “Look at him. muttered the captain from the side line, “runs like a cow! Lets his - What! well done. Romeo!! Romeo had his Irish up, and was playing like a veteran when time was called. The first half was over. Neither side had scored, though it was evident that Washtuena had the be st of it. In the second half we kicked off to them, and they ran the ball back twenty yards before being downed. Five times in succession they made their yardage, amid a pandemonium of yells from their supporters. Finally we got the ball, only to lose it again. Washtuena was slowly but surely advancing towards our goal, when their quarters fumbled and lost the ball. “Now fellows,” said Captain Williams, “get in the game and wipe ’em off the earth! We did, and we had them going. Could we keep it up? We were setting a terrific pace. “They’re tiring! They’re tiring!” shouted the Washtuena rooters. “Their gains are almost nothing now! They can’t score! They can ' t! They can’t!” It was true we were tiring, and we were held for downs on the five-yard line. Time was almost up. Would we have time to score? Well, we could try. Washtucna’s quarter signaled for a punt. Romeo broke through the line and blocked the kick. The ball rolled behind the goal posts. A Washtuena player fell on it like a flash. It was too late. Before he could rise and throw himself back on the gridiron. Romeo was on him crushing him back to earth. That was a safety. It meant two points for us. Romeo had saved the day. He was a hero. Alas for Romeo and his new won glory, and alas for any glory that rests upon the probability of a girl keeping a secret. Murder will out, and that very night, at the dormitory dance which the girls gave in honor of the victory, the whole affair leaked out. One of the girls had also been a spectator of the little fire episode in which Romeo and Juliet had figured. She thought it was too good to keep and, getting some of us fellows into a corner, told us about the whole affair, not omitting I ony’s important part in it. Not till then did we know that it was really Tony who saved the day for us. Poor Romeo hasn’t heard the last of it yet. Some fellow ' with rare poetical ability composed the following parody commemorating the occasion, which we sing to the tune of Tammany: Ju-li-el, Ju-li-el. Come and Iran on my strong arm, I will shield you from all harm, Ju-li-el, Ju-li-el. Fire! Fire! Mold me higher. Ju-li-el. Ju-li-el! Every time we sing this little song, we think of Tony and how he saved the day for us. • Philip Davidson 17

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is by no means the common mode of dress in Alaska. Alaskans dress precisely like other people. It is only in the extreme north and in extreme weather that furs are donned, and this garb is considered as much of a curiosity in other parts of Alaska as in the States” — which, by the way, is an Alaskan localism meaning that part of the United States not in¬ cluded in Alaska. The word husky means an Indian dog, as does also “malamute. The latter ter m hails from Eskimo-land, and more strictly speaking, the words refer to the strong, wolf-like Eskimo sled dogs. Chechako is an Indian expression meaning a new-comer — a tenderfoot,” to use a common western localism. The Alaskan opposite for ’chechako is “sour-dough, an elegant phrase borrowed from early days in California, and mean¬ ing old-timer. It refers to the popular and ingenious method of raising” bread by using a portion of sour dough instead of yeast, practiced by prospectors and others long removed from civilization’s helpful hand. The evolution from chechako to sourdough ’ is a gradual process, of variable length — and many and amusing arc the distinctions drawn between the two classes in different localities. Here in Southeastern Alaska, where steamers and mail steamers especially are events, in the largest sense of the word, they say that one has reached the sourdough stage when he knows all the steamer whistles, but never knows when they are due — thus implying that the “sourdough has lived in the country so long and become so thoroughly amalgamated that his tics and interests elsewhere have gradually vanished. The “chechako, on the other hand, always knows when a steamer is due — though the various whistles arc as Greek to him —and can always be detected by the feverish eagerness with which he awaits his mail — and also, as a rule, by the quantity of it, this latter being in an inverse ratio to the length of his stay. Cache and mush are transplanted French terms—“cache being in fact, a pure French word meaning a hiding place. So in the interior and other parts of Alaska, caches —little log hub or cabins safely perched up on stilts—are often built for the storing of surplus food or supplies during an owner’s absence. Mush” is corrupted from the French imperative form marchez, meaning march. I his expression is a great deal used throughout Alaska, broadly signifying “to travel. In managing dog teams, it is the signal for the start. It is related that in the restaurants at Nome, when a customer is asked what he wishes for breakfast, and replies loudly “mush.” all the dogs of the place get up and walk out. We cannot personally vouch for this, nor does our experience allow us to deny it. Mush sometimes means merely to walk. At Nome they go for a “mush over the tundra” where we would go for a stroll or for a constitutional, as the case might be. A musher is, of course, one who mushes.’ The tundra” is a flat, treeless waste frequently met with in extreme northern latitudes. To hit the trail” means up here “north of 53, to start, set out, or travel. “Placer” is by no means an exclusively Alaskan term, but it is typical of Alaska, nevertheless, since it was her rich gold deposits that first drew attention to the country. Placer mining and quartz mining arc the two methods of mining gold, employed according to the nature of the deposit. In the former, the gold-bearing rock has been decomposed and the particles washed down or deposited in “pay streaks.” the loose dirt being separated by such simple means as “washing” or sluicing.” In the latter, the gold is contained in veins or ledges of quartz, and the rock must be crushed in order to ob¬ tain it. A rocker,” or cradle, is just what the name implies, a boxlike contrivance on rockers, sometimes used for washing gold, but now considered rather antiquated on account of its slowness. I o grubstake means to furnish a prospector with the needful supplies while he is locating a claim. In cases of 19