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Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Itlwillie

ITLIWILLIE

[itl’-wil-lie] or [itl’-u-li]— noun.

Meaning: Flesh; meat; muscle 

Origin: Upper Chinook, i-tlgwul; Lower Chinook i-tl’uli ‘meat’

If one had “itlwillie sick” (bruised/sore muscles), they would naturally complain “konaway nika itlwillie sick” (all my muscles are sore), a likely outcome for one’s “lejam itlwillie” (leg muscle) on Leg-Day.

The meat of all animals was referred to simply by the name for the animal; hence mowitch referred both to deer and venison. However, if one wished to be specific, they could say “mowitch yaka itlwillie” (deer, its flesh; venison), or something similar, such as “lemooto itlwillie”, or” lemooto yaka itlwillie” (mutton), “moosmoos yaka itlwillie” ( beef) and “tenas moosmoos yaka itlwillie” (veal). All good things to know if one is looking to “mahkook itliwille” (buy/sell meat)

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