The Strangest Newspaper in the World - The Kamloops Wawa
Over 100 years ago
St. Joseph ’s Church, which still stands today on Kamloops Indian Band land, was built by First Nations craftsmen under the supervision of Father Le Jeune. Prior to becoming successor of this church, Father Le Jeune traveled from his home
land of
France to
New Westminster , B.C. and was taught the Chinook language, a language generally used for trade and other communication. Shortly after, Father Le Jeune traveled to
Kamloops where he mastered all of the local dialects of the many tribes in the BC Interior Region.
During his fifty years of service in the district and working at
St. Joseph ’s Church, Father Le Jeune developed a type of unique Chinook shorthand and used it to create a newspaper call the Kamloops Wawa. The term, “wawa” means “to speak” or “conversation” and the newspaper was later termed ‘the strangest newspaper in the world’.
The newspaper began with a circulation of 100 growing to 2,000 and many First Nations people were regular readers. Originally, the Kamloops Wawa was dedicated mostly to religious matters, but would eventually cover general news with occasional photographs.
In 1897, copies of the Kamloops Wawa were sent to the Concours Stenographique of Roubaix in. Near the end of the year, news came that the Kamloops Wawa had been awarded a prestigious gold medal. Not bad for ‘the strangest newspaper in the world’.
Information
Howard Grieve, Manager Marketing & Communications
Tourism Kamloops
1-866-372-8081
howard@tourismkamloops.com
Research Assistance courtesy of the Kamloops Museum & Archives
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