File:"Wam-iliʔi” is the Chinuk Wawa word for “summertime.” It is pronounced “WAHM ILL-uh-ee.” ʔ is the symbol for a glottal stop, a (bc04cfb4-ba94-44d1-b1a9-ec1e0dfac9a6).jpg

Photo of sunflowers growing in the Fort Vancouver garden, accompanied by the word "Wam-iliʔi" and its translation.

"Wam-iliʔi” is the Chinuk Wawa word for “summertime.” It is pronounced “WAHM ILL-uh-ee.” ʔ is the symbol for a glottal stop, a sound that most English speakers are familiar with as the sound between the syllables in “uh-oh.” Wam-iliʔi translates literally to mean “warm earth” or “warm land.” In the 1840s, summer at Fort Vancouver was a busy time! Crops in the fields surrounding the fort were grown and harvested, ships on the Columbia River were loaded with supplies to export to other Hudson’s Bay Company posts, furs were prepared for shipment to England, and Company employees traded for salmon with local Native peoples. Summertime also brought some dangers. Diseases like dysentery and malaria were more likely to spread, and wildfires could be a threat, like the 1844 fire that nearly consumed the fort. Still, the post's residents found time for recreation, and enjoyed swimming in the Columbia River, horseback riding, picnics, and horse races.