Chinook Indian Talk

Re: Any stories or legendsof the Chinook People?

From: Steady Eddie
Date: 2/25/2003
Time: 6:20:36 AM
Remote Name: 68.67.17.161

Comments

How the Old may fit in with the New: At work we use Calcium Carbonate (white chalk) as a filler to produce very white paper. During the changeover period when we went from producing acid-based paper to alkaline-based paper (Carbonate) we got our first "mixed-as-slurry" tanker truck load of Calcium Carbonate as a trial.

Guess where it came from?

That's right, Tillamook, Oregon.

So--we have on one hand, the "Old" Native use of the "white clay" or "chalk" as a pigment and the "New" White People's use of the same material being used as a filler (pigment) for paper production today. There must be a tremendous amount of this mineral in and around Tillamook Bay for it to be mined today as a Commercial Enterprise. In the early days, because of the effort it took to get it, this white mineral was often used as a Trade Item (Money) in exchange for goods and services. Everyone seemed to need (and use) white paint.

The friendships between the various Indian groups of the Old Times is a subject that Tenas has touched upon, saying that they were not Tribes as we know them today. This is true. But it opens a whole new can of worms to study. Why didn't this inter-relationship bring one Tribe's knowledge to another??

For instance: The Spanish were here. They were very far North at San Fransisco Bay. The Spanish had the wheel. And the horse. And gunpowder. The Indians of Northern California had run-ins with the Spanish, the Southern Oregon Indians must have learned of the Spanish from the Californian Indians and all of these wonderous Spanish inventions must have finally made it to the Columbia River Valley. We know that the horse made it (the Nez Pierce), we know that gunpowder made it (flintlocks), we know that clothing made it, etc. But there are gaps.

Steady Eddie

Last changed: February 25, 2003