Duane Pasco Has Passed Away
Very sad news as on July 31 an early champion of Chinook Jargon revival and education, Duane Pasco, has passed away.
Through his “Tenas Wawa” newspaper and other works, Duane was instrumental in the promotion of this language. It was through him that many were first exposed to Chinook and through his work that they first began to learn the language.
For myself, Duane’s work was the first bit of Chinook I ever studied seriously. He was very kind to send me his dictionary, CD, and a kind note encouraging my learning. I’ll never forget- he must have stored the booklets next to his smokehouse as it came to me smelling strongly of smoked salmon!
Duane was full of songs and stories, some of which we thankfully got to enjoy through his attendance during a couple of our zoom sessions. I do wish we could have spent more time with him, but I’m grateful for the time we had.
The Kaltash Wawa 
I met Duane in ’93 and loved the sparkle in his eyes when he spoke of his love of chinuk wawa.
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