Bushaw, Donald.

Professor of mathematics, Washington State University.

Donald W. Bushaw was born in Bremerton, Washington in 1926.  He received a  BA in Mathematics from Washington State College in 1949 and a PhD in Mathematics from Princeton University in 1952.  Shortly afterwards, Bushaw returned to Washington State College (later Washington State University) for the remainder of his academic career.  In addition to his role as a faculty member of the Mathematics department, he also served as the Director of the WSU Libraries and Vice Provost for Instruction.  Known for his broad range of interests and knowledge, Bushaw spoke more than ten languages including French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, and Chinese.  The donation of Bushaw's Chinook Jargon materials to Portland State was facilitated by his family, perhaps due to Bushaw's attendance at a Chinook-wawa workshop held on campus.

The Chinook Jargon is a trade language comprised of Chinook language words, Nuu-chah-nulth, French, English, and other languages. It was used extensively in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for communication between Pacific Northwest American Indians and their trading partners. Originally used among various American Indian communities, the language was later adopted by Euro-Americans for trade among Pacific Coastal peoples.

The Chinook Jargon language consists of only a few hundred words (Edward H. Thomas records approximately 580) and so is highly limited compared to the actual Chinook language, which shares a complexity similar to other native and Indo-European languages.