PUYALLUP RESERVATION, Tacoma, Washington—The Puyallup Tribal Council and Puyallup Tribal Language Program celebrate the publication of a historic paper that for the first time gives a comprehensive linguistic analysis of the many Native names for Mount Rainier.
The paper, titled “An Analysis of the Names for Mount Rainier,” was published Feb. 21 – International Mother Language Day – in the Living Languages Journal. It was authored by Zalmai ʔəswəli Zahir, Ph.D., who works as a Lushootseed Language Consultant for the Tribe. Among the findings, the non-exhaustive research reveals that there are 20 different names for the mountain that are used by seven different Tribal languages surrounding the mountain, and 18 of the 20 names are Salishan in origin.
The Tribe contracted with Dr. Zahir to write the analysis to answer the longstanding community questions, “What is the original Native name for Mt. Rainier and what does it mean?”
The City of Tacoma was named after the Lushootseed word for the name of the mountain, taqʷuʔmaʔ. Tahoma is a name given as an alternative to “Rainier” and is commonly used in the region. Examples include Mount Tahoma High School and the Tribe’s own Tahoma Market convenience stores. This name descends from the Yakama language name, tax̌úma, which is a borrowed variation of the Salishan name taqʷuʔmaʔ that has several other variations.
In the paper, Dr. Zahir presents the grammar and historical evolution for these 20 different names. He also discusses the metaphorical meanings attached to these names, reflecting the First People’s traditional narratives and world views of the mountain.
The mountain’s current name only goes back to the late 1700s when British Capt. George Vancouver sailed into what is now Puget Sound and named already-named sites—including “Puget Sound”—in his own language. “Mount Rainier” was named for Peter Rainier, a British admiral and friend of Vancouver’s who fought against the colonies in the American Revolutionary War and never saw the mountain named for him. As discussed in the paper, it is not known how old the Native names for Mount Rainier are. However, the fact that most of the meanings of the names can only be understood by analyzing Proto-Salish grammar implies that these names come from a time when Salishan languages were more like Proto-Salish.
“cayəxʷ ʔəsq’ič ti qa sdadaʔ ʔə tiiɫ skʷatač txʷəl ti ʔacaciɫtalbixʷ ʔə ti bək’ʷ swatxʷixʷtxʷəd gʷati ʔəshəliʔ ti sdaʔ ʔə təqʷuʔmaʔ. ʔəshəliʔ ti x̌ax̌aʔ skʷatač. ƛ’uhigʷalikʷ čəɫ ʔə tsi kayəʔčəɫ təqubət. ck’aqid ʔəslax̌dxʷ čəɫ ƛ’uʔəɫtxʷ tiiɫ ʔiišədčəɫs. tiił pipa gʷəl ƛ’ukʷaxʷatəb čəɫ ʔə kʷi gʷəslax̌dxʷ tul’čadəs kʷi səxʷuhəliʔtubčəɫ. ‘The many names of the Mountain’ is incredibly valuable to all the people of the land because our Mountain’s name is alive. Our sacred Mountain is alive. We continuously honor our Grandmother Mountain. We will always remember that she continually feeds our people. This paper helps remind us of where our continuous life comes from,” Puyallup Language Program Director Amber Hayward said.
“We are proud of our Tribe’s language revitalization efforts and the work of our amazing Language Program,” said the Puyallup Tribal Council, the Tribe’s governing body. “This paper is historic in itself and also helps us move forward.”
Living Languages is a journal dedicated to language revitalization and sustainability topics. It is published by University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries. His paper can be read online at https://openpublishing.library.umass.edu/livinglanguages/ or on the Puyallup Tribe’s Language Program’s website, PuyallupTribalLanguage.org.
