Carrier is generally regarded as one of three members of the central British Columbia subgroup of Athabaskan, the other two being Babine-Witsuwit’en and Tŝilhqot’in. Carrier proper consists of two regional dialect groups, Dakelh (ᑕᗸᒡ) and Southern Carrier, where the latter is divided into two subgroups, Fraser/Nechakoh and Blackwater which are further subdivided into the individual dialects. […]

On this page is a map of the known permanent village sites (c.1800) of the Coast Salish people who lived–and still live–in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. If you are interested in a particular group or area of the Sound click on the appropriate section of the small black and white map to the left. Then, a color map of the area you choose will download. It is only from these larger scale (smaller area) maps that you are able to access information about each of the villages.

MESACHIE [me-SA’-chi] — adjective Meaning: Bad; bitter; cruel; depravity; dissolute; dung; evil; filthy; grumpy; harm; immodest; immoral; iniquity;  insolence; malign; naughty; nasty; obscene; sin; sinner; treacherous; ungodly; unrighteous; unruly; unworthy; vice; vile; wicked.  Origin: Chinook, masáchi “Bad”; “wicked” < Chinook masachi “evil”,”nasty”,”malign” (Chinookan languages of Washington and Oregon) “Mesachie” (occasionally written as “mesahchie”, mesatchee”, or […]

KWASS [kwas] — Adjective, noun. Meaning: Afraid, Awe; Distrust; Dread; Fear; Fearful; Shy; Tame; Timid Origin: From a Chinookan particle k’wash ‘afraid’ Expressing notions of fear and hesitancy, the word “kwass” lends itself to an adequate description of a “kwass kalakala” (pigeon). Scary movies are designed to “mamook kwass” (scare, frighten, alarm), and experience “hyas kwass” […]

TAMAHNOUS  [ta-MAH’-no-us] or [tam-án-a-was] or [tamá-nawas] or [tah-MAH’-na-wis] — noun, verb, adjective Meaning: Spirit; Guardian spirit; Personal Spirit; Ghost; Goblin; Witch; Magic; Luck; Fortune; Slight of hand; One’s particular forte, specialty, or strength Origin: Several possible, perhaps convergent etymologies: Chinook, itamánawas ‘guardian or familiar spirit; magic, luck, fortune; anything supernatural’ >i-ta-mánwash (spirit creature)  Sahaptin tamánwit […]

SALAL  [SAL’-AL]  — noun. Meaning: The salal shrub or its berries.The salal berry; fruit of Gualtheria shallon. Origin: Chinook klkwushala ‘salal berries’. Sometimes called ‘sallal’ or ‘shallon’, the salal (Gaultheria shallon) is an evergreen shrub, restricted mainly to the Cascadian coastline which possess clustered dark-purple berrylike fruit about the size of the common grape.  Before […]

Shot Olallie [shot O-lal’-lie] or [shat U-lal-i] — noun. Meaning: huckleberry Origin: English shot “bullet; lead” + Heiltsuk, olallie “salmon berry”; Chinook, ulali, “berry” The Red Huckleberry (vaccinium parvifolium) is a species native to western North America, where it is common in forests of Cascadia. In the Oregon Coast Range, it is the most common […]

Seahpo olallie [se-áh-po O-lal’-lie] or [se-áh-pult U-lal-i] — noun. Meaning: Raspberry Origin: French, chapeau  “hat”, “cap” + Heiltsuk, olallie “salmon berry”; Chinook, ulali, “berry” There are several varieties of raspberry in Cascadia, including the Snow Raspberry (Rubus nivalis), which is native to northwestern North America: British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, and far northern California, and the […]

AMOTE [a-MO’-teh] or [a-MU-tee],  occasionally corrupted into [al-mo’-ta] — noun. Meaning: Strawberry (plant or fruit) Origin: Chinook amuti; Clatsop tl’amōte, “strawberry”. Fragaria chiloensis, the ‘beach strawberry’ or ‘coastal strawberry’, is one of two species of wild strawberries that were hybridized to create the modern garden strawberry. The plant’s natural range is the Pacific Ocean coast, […]

Olallie [O-lal’-lie] or [U-lal-i] — noun. Meaning: Berry; berries; fruit Origin: From a Lower Chinook úlili ‘salmon-berry’; Heiltsuk, olallie “salmon berry” Originally this word referred only to salmon-berries (Rubus spectabilis), but in Chinook Wawa it grew to mean any sort of “pil olallie” (red berry), along the Salish Sea it became a catch-all for any […]