Paging Doctor Dolittle

As previously posted, I spent last weekend in Ellensburg, WA watching arrows fly. However, as I made my way to the tournament headquarters, I also saw something that had me uttering, “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s aunt” – a simple brick building with signage proclaiming:

“Chimpanzee & Human Communication Institute”

WHAT?!

Well, I just had to investigate.

It turns out that the Chimpanzee & Human Communication Institute (CHCI) has been in operation since 1966. It is the longest-running research project of its kind in the entire world (quite possibly, the universe)!

In Ellensburg, Washington?!

Yes, Ellensburg – a place in the middle of nowhere with a landscape that I can only lovingly describe as “the moon”.

Wow. Let me tell you, before last weekend, the very idea of a chimpanzee family well-versed in American Sign Language cooling its heels in Ellensburg – well, that would have ranked pretty high on my list of impossible things. But, as we’ve discussed before, there are no impossible things. (See Impossibilities, Feb 22)

And why not Ellensburg? Turns out, those chimps probably feel right at home – they are retirees from the space program.

And boy, can they sign! While most of the words they use are fairly general (for example, DOG is signed for any dog), they can come up with their own word combinations on the fly to describe new things. For example, a radish was quickly labeled CRY-HURT-FOOD, and watermelon became DRINK-FRUIT.

Don’t you just love that? Such simple beauty cutting straight to the truth – I’m telling you, those chimps are not “speaking”, they’re creating poetry. In their honor, I think I shall refer to chocolate as my BLISS-BAR from now on.

As the “Chimpanzee & Human Communication Institute” name implies, the chimp residents can communicate with people. However, they also sign to one another, and teach signing to their children. They even sign to themselves when alone…

What do you think they say in those quiet moments?

Trust me, there’s a story in there.

PROMPT: What would you say if you could chatter with a chimp in chimpanzee? What poetic word combinations would you come up with? Better yet, today would be a GREAT day for primate poems! Write one to your SWEET-LOVE-PERSON and send along some SMELL-FLOWERS for a romantic touch. Why, this could be more fun than a barrel of…