#chinuk

For those following the Chinook Indian Nation's work toward regaining federal recognition, this is an important endorsement. I posted a while back about a petition for the state of Washington to give the now-closed Naselle Youth Camp to the Chinook. The NYC is on unceded Chinook land, and specifically the portion of land the Chinook asked to retain almost two centuries ago as part of an unfulfilled treaty with the U.S. government.

A state task force formed to determine the fate of the NYC has officially recommended the NYC be given to the Chinook Indian Nation. Not only would this put the facility into the hands of people who will make excellent use of it, but the Chinook have also stated their intention to restore the on-site wastewater treatment facility and salmon hatchery. The former would additionally be a boon to the entirety of Pacific County, which currently ships its wastewater all the way to Centralia, WA, over 100 miles away from southern portions of the county.

There's this bus stop with a wall that has a poem written on it in multiple languages (not visible are the English and Spanish lines). It seems like the idea is to communicate that all these languages are beautiful... but in practice, it's just the Arabic calligraphy flexing so hard it absolutely blasts the other three and their plain Roman characters clear into the stratosphere

CHINUK!!!

(design and art by @/indig0trolls!!)

Chi is a meteorologist! She's a bubbly, sometimes snarky, but adventurous bronzeblood. She was diagnosed with an early onset osteoarthritis at a young age, which allowed her to enroll in an experimental treatment. During her trials, she connected with an offcaste tealblood named Aprici, who she lovingly calls Apricot. They became incredibly close!

The experimental treatment didn't completely work, and resulted in both of them experiencing a loss of limbs to combat the aggressive spontaneous deterioration. After that fact, Chi decided that she wasn't going to spend the rest of her life holed up waiting for something to happen.

She dragged Aprici into attending classes with her. She's still studying- very close to completing! She met a disgraced heiress named Ritual while studying, and the two hit it off fantastically. Chi introduced Ritz to meteorology and the study of storms. As a retired Fleet Pilot, Ritz was desperately searching for something to give her the same sense of thrill. Ritz brought in Tacoma, a skilled mechanic, and the little quad of friends became researchers.

Tacoma's engineering skills helped to create a vehicle prepared to face any kind of cosmic storm. Ritual is daring and hardy, prepared to run headfirst into a tornado if need be. Aprici is a whizz with numbers- he's in charge of taking the raw data and spitting it into readable means. And Chi finds the best storms!

Chinuk is INCREDIBLE at reading weather and finding a good storm. She hasn't been wrong yet! A large part of it is being very in tune with her body, being able to tell how the changes in barometric pressure might affect her. She's also good at reading the storms themselves, watching the clouds swirl, seeing how the wind is blowing, where tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, might end up.

bookherd: what is "drət mayka"?

bookherd: very you?

me: You're right.

bookherd: but in context, what would one say in English? (fairyswatter poised)

us: (snuggling)

me: nayka dret tiki mayka.

she: aw!

me: 'nayka kemteks.'

she: (giggles)

me: Luke, mayka papa nayka!

she: (silence)

me: (frowns) (tries again) Luke! mayka papa... NAYKA!

she: (giggles)

me: (beams proudly)

she: I think it's hilarious that you thought that saying it a third lower would make it funny.

me: (scowls)

mayka munk-t'səm kʰapa shawash wawa? ɬush pus makya munk-miɬayt "#Native American" kʰapa mayka twax̣-post!

mayka munk-tʼsəm kʰapa bastən wawa? pi wik kʰapa shawash-tilixam mayka twax̣-post? wəyk ɬush mayka munk-miɬayt "#Native American" kʰapa mayka twax̣-post!

(shawash-ilʔi wawa chinuk wawa.)