Thompson (Interior Salish)

• Laurence C. Thompson & M. Terry Thompson, The Thompson Language. University of Montana Occasional Papers in Linguistics 8, 1992. 253 pp. $20. --- A description of the Interior Salish language of the Thompson River Indians of south central British Columbia, centering on the speech of the southernmost dialect. Includes phonology, morphology, syntax, and a long illustrative myth text. A companion volume to the forthcoming Thompson-English Dictionary and Thompson Texts. --- Order from: UMOPL, Linguistics, Univ. of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812 (e-mail: li_am@selway.umt.edu). Orders must be prepaid in US funds (checks made out to UMOPL). Prices include shipping costs to US addresses. For Canada or Mexico add $3; elsewhere add $8 (surface) or $12 (airmail). [July 1992]
  
  
• Nancy J. Turner, Laurence C. Thompson, M. Terry Thompson, and Annie Z. York, Thompson Ethnobotany: Knowledge and Usage of Plants by the Thompson Indians of British Columbia. Memoir 3, Royal British Columbia Museum, 1990. 335 pp. $15 CDN. --- An extraordinarily thorough ethnobotanical study, the result of a long collaboration between a team of linguists (Thompson and Thompson), a botanist (Turner), and a tradition-bearer (York). The body of the work is divided into 4 chapters: an "Introduction", covering the linguistic and cultural affiliations of the Thompson (Interior Salish) and their physical environment; a detailed discussion of the "Role of Plants in Thompson Culture" (as food, for material, as medicine, etc.), with numerous lists and charts; an "Inventory of Plant Species Named and/or Used by the Thompson" (including over 350 species of native plants and nearly 40 species of introduced plants or plant products); and "Summary and Conclusions." The authors sadly note that only a few native plants are actively used by the Thompson today. There are also 5 appendices: unidentified plants; indigenous botanical terminology; miscellaneous vocabulary pertaining to plants and plant uses; some plant species seen by Thompson speakers but for which no name was recalled; and a brief discussion of Thompson phonology. The book is rounded off with an index to all plants mentioned.--- Order from: Royal B. C. Museum, 675 Belleville St., Victoria, BC V8V 1X4, CANADA. [Oct. 1990]