Skookum, cultus, hyack, saltchuck, klahowya, tillicum: It is in words like these that the last vestiges of a lost British Columbian language remain. It was known as "Chinook". Its use today is mainly confined to colloquialisms, and place names like Boston Bar, Canim Lake, Illahee Mountain, Snass Creek, and Skookumchuck. It began as a trading jargon, but it soon evolved into a distinct West Coast tongue. Down through the years, as many as a quarter of a million people relied on it. Chinook was an everyday necessity.

A Voice Great Within Us consists of an introductory essay by Glavin exploring the development and spread of Chinook throughout the West Coast, and the place it continues to have in our history; the Chinook poem, "Rain Language"; Lillard’s own essay on the part that Chinook played in his own life and exploration of British Columbia. In addition, A Voice Great Within Us includes a lexicon containing hundreds of Chinook words and expressions and a map and gazetteer of British Columbia, showing eighty Chinook place names in this province.

A Voice Great Within Us is Number 7 in the Transmontanus series of books edited by Terry Glavin.

Born in Long Beach, California, Charles Lillard grew up and was educated in Alaska. Following visits to the BC coast, he left Alaska and enrolled in the Creative Writing program at the University of British Columbia. In his lifetime, he published several poetry books, edited many historical publications, including The Malahat Review and wrote extensively on the history of British Columbia. He passed away on March 27, 1997 leaving his collaborator Terry Glavin to finish A Voice Great Within Us, Number 7 in the Transmontanus series.

Terry Glavin is a BC author and journalist whose writing has appeared in various newspapers and magazines, including a regular column in the Georgia Straight. His writing about aboriginal people has earned him several regional and national journalism awards. He is currently the editor of the Transmontanus books series, as well as adjunct professor in the fine arts department of the University of British Columbia. He lives in Victoria, BC.