LEMOOTO [le-MOO’-to] or [lam’-MU-to] — noun. Meaning: Sheep; mutton. Origin: French, les moutons, “sheep” Sometimes spelled as lemoto or limoto, it refers to sheep, and naturally all things related to them, such as “man lemooto” (ram), “klootchman lemooto” (ewe),  “tenas lemooto” (lamb), and “lemooto house” (fold, sheepfold). The word was also used for “mutton”, though […]

MOWITCH [MÓW-itsh] [ MAH’-witsh] — noun. Meaning: A deer; venison; game; wild animal Origin: Nuu-chah-nulth, mauitsh; Ditidaht, moitsh, a deer While the word itself refers to deer in general, as seen in “man mowitch (stag)” and “klootchman mowitch” (doe), it was occasionally applied to mountain goat or mountain sheep. It could also apply to deer […]

KIUATAN [KIU’-a-tan] or [KHI-YU-tun] — noun. Meaning: Horse Origin: Generally believed to be from Chinook i-kiuatan < ikee’utan ‘horse’, though some sources claim it is of Mamachatpam (Yakima) origin. There are several words for horses used in Chinook Wawa, though kiuatan seems to have been used more in southern regions of Cascadia, and is the […]