The language E. Pauline Johnson-Tekahionwake used in writing Legends of Vancouver is the standard imperial English of her age punctuated with Chinook jargon. Her obvious aim was to present native customs and culture to her predominantly British born or descended audience in a familiar language.
To us, many of her English expressions as well as her native jargon seem strange, even suspect. We have become increasingly aware of the racial bias of standard English and the racial prejudice of "Indian" jargon.
All language use is time bound, however. For example, Johnson-Tekahionwake's use of the term savage to describe the native character implies the positive and praiseworthy meaning of noble savage, not the pejorative and loathsome meaning of blood-thirsty savage that riddles the language of popular "Cowboy and Indian" movies.
Likewise, odd sounding terms like tillicum and tyee are genuine, adopted from the Chinook language of the age used by the Pacific Coast natives, the British, and the French as a means of communication. The language of Legends of Vancouver must be seen in this context.
chickimin: iron, metal, steel, mineral; or money, cash, currency.
Chinook: a band of Salish natives who live along the Columbia River in Washington state; a simple language of the Pacific Coast of North America based on an amalgamation of words and expressions from Chinook, Nootka, English, and French languages.
hiyu: much, plenty, abundance.
hykwa: shell money or wampum.
kla-how-ya: "How do you do?" or good day, good morning, good evening, or goodby.
klootchman: a woman, wife, or a female animal.
muck-a-muck: food, meet, feast, eat.
ollallie: berries, fruit, especially the salmon berry.
potlatch: a celebration of some event at which the host gives extravagant gifts to the guests, from the Chinook jargon for giving freely.
Sagalie Tyee: great chief or god, from the Chinook jargon for a large spring salmon.
Salish: a family of Pacific Northwest natives comprised of the Coast Salish and Interior Salish groups including such nations as the Bella Coola, Comox, Sechelt, Squamish, Halkomelen, Lillooet, Okanogan, Thompson, and Shuswap.
skookum: strong, powerful, potent, brave.
Squamish: a band of Central Coast Salish nations resident around Howe Inlet north of Vancouver.
tillicum: friend, from the Chinook jargon for kin or people as distinguished from chiefs or tyees.
tum-tum: spirit, heart, belief.
tyee: chief of a native tribe or band, from the Chinook jargon for a large spring salmon .
wampum: beads or shells strung on belts or sashes used as money, symbols of a treaty, or ornaments, from the Algonquian language.
