What is "skookumchuck"

Skookumchuck is a Chinook Jargon term that is in common use in British Columbia English and occurs in Pacific Northwest English. Skookum means "strong" or "powerful", and "chuck" means water, so skookumchuck means " rapids" or " whitewater" (literally, "strong water"), or fresh, healthy water. It can mean any rapids, but in coastal usage refers to the powerful tidal rapids at the mouths of most of the major coastal inlets.

Notable Skookumchucks where "Skookumchuck" term is used include:

• Skookumchuck, British Columbia, a town in British Columbia named for the large rapids in this area on the Kootenay River.
• Skookumchuck Hot Springs, British Columbia, a town in British Columbia
• Skookumchuck Narrows, a narrow entrance passage into Sechelt Inlet, a fjord in British Columbia's Sunshine Coast
• Skookumchuck Narrows Provincial Park, a park located at the narrows
• Skookumchuck Rapids Provincial Park, a park near Mabel Lake, British Columbia
• Skookumchuck River, a river in the US state of Washington
• Skookumchuck Creek, Idaho County, Idaho

Other Skookumchucks include:

• Quatsino Sound