File:"Liphret" is the Chinuk Wawa word for “priest.” It is pronounced “luh-PRET,” and comes from the French word “le prêtre (1c3ac6c5-d539-471f-bb1b-f35c29467987).jpg

Close up of a drawing showing lines representing Biblical figures like Adam and Eve, accompanied by the word "liphret" and its translation.

"Liphret" is the Chinuk Wawa word for “priest.” It is pronounced “luh-PRET,” and comes from the French word “le prêtre.” Missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, passed through Fort Vancouver in the course of their efforts to convert Indigenous peoples in the Northwest. The communities these missionaries encountered were multilingual – many Native Northwesterners spoke several languages as a result of generations of economic and cultural exchange among tribes and villages. Catholic priests Modeste Demers and François Blanchet relied on Chinuk Wawa to help them communicate. According to Blanchet, Demers “learned the Chinook Jargon in three or four weeks” after their arrival at Fort Vancouver, and translated the Sign of the Cross, the Lord’s Prayer, and Hail Mary into Chinuk Wawa. Demers and Blanchet also developed a “Catholic Ladder,” which told the story of the Bible using symbols and drawings. This image shows a close up of a replica of the Catholic Ladder, which is on display in the Chief Factor's House