"It's Skookum" — Notes on a Pacific Northwest word

By Jack Brummet, Pacific Northwest Ed.

The Skookum apple brand has been around forever; it's still around. People say this is

 the most famous apple logo/label of all time. It's been reprinted in all sorts of media.

Having grown up and lived much of my life in the Pacific NW, I have often heard the word skookum used as definition one—usually "everything's great," "everything is just fine,"  or even as a synonym for another favorite word, copacetic [def.: In excellent order.]  One of my favorite place names in the region is Skookumchuck.  In Canada, there are several legends of people named Skookum something.  And a real person, known as Skookum Jim, was one of the discoverers of the Klondike goldfields in the Yukon.  There is also a breed of dwarf cat called a Skookum.

A Skookum cat. Skookums are curly-haired, big-eyed dwarf cats that weigh between 4 and 7 pounds.

The Wikipedia entry on Skookum:  

"Skookum is a Chinook Jargon word that has come into general use in the Pacific Northwest region of America and some parts of Alberta, Canada."

"The word skookum has three meanings:

• a word in regional English that has a variety of positive connotations;
• a monster; similar to the sasquatch.
• a souvenir doll once common in the United States in tourist areas."

Skookum Dolls in a display case at the Native American Nations Trading Post in Billings, 

Montana,a roadside joint where we have eaten and made pit stops at over the years.

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