When new workers start a job at Menominee Tribal Enterprises, they have to learn a skill quickly that does not specifically have anything to do with wood.
It’s called “mill talk” and it’s how the workers at the famed sawmill communicate because the loud machinery drowns out voices.
Here’s some basic information about this remarkable homemade sign language.
When did the sign language develop?
No one’s sure how or when it started, but it goes back several generations of millworkers – at least to the early 1900s.
Workers start picking up the sign language on their first day. It’s crucial because the noise on the mill floor is so loud, and other workers use it so comfortably that new workers essentially have to pick it up.
John Awonohopay, sales manager for Menominee Tribal Enterprises, the company that operates the tribe’s sustainable forestry business, said he believes the sign language is unique to the Menominee sawmill. He’s not aware of workers at other lumber mills in the region, including ones that recently closed down, using a sign language to communicate.
Is the sign language similar to American Sign Language?
The Menominee sawmill sign language is nothing like American Sign Language, which is promoted by the National Association of the Deaf and embraced by the American Sign Language Teachers Association. Its practitioners are not deaf, and nothing is written down. It’s not based on the Menominee language either.
It’s just something that’s organically understood between sawmill workers.
What are the signs like?
Some are obvious, such as pointing to a wrist to ask or alert someone about the time.
Others are specific to the job. If a piece of wood is starting to wiggle through the blade, workers will signal a specific snaking motion with their arms to the machine operator. If wood debris or wood chips are getting caught in the cutting process and scratching the surface of the wood, workers will conspicuously scratch the backs of their necks.
Others indicate the lumber is thick or thin or wedging.
Are the signs always work-related?
Some signs are meant to be conversational or funny. Workers can talk about what they did last night or over the weekend, what their plans are for upcoming time with their family.
Do workers use the signs outside their job?
Technically, no.
But out of habit, many workers said, they find themselves slipping into sign use while having conversations at home or with friends from work. They find it an easy, and sometimes discreet, shorthand.
Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@usatodayco.com or 815-260-2262. Follow him on X at @vaisvilas_frank.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: For over 100 years, this homemade sign language has been indispensible
Reporting by Frank Vaisvilas, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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