Spend a morning 'talking shoes' with a chimpanzee

PHOTO BY RICK WOOD STANWOOD/CAMANO NEWS Chimpanzee and Human Communications Institute, on the Central Washington University campus, is home to three talking chimpanzees. Now that vacation time is upon us, families are once again looking for fun and interesting day trips that won't break the bank.

Just over Snoqualmie Pass, in Ellensburg, tucked away on the Central Washington University campus, is the unassuminglooking Chimpanzee and Human Communications Institute (CHCI).

After reading "Next of Kin," by Dr. Roger Fouts, founder of CHCI, I knew I had to see the intelligent talking apes he described.

In the book, Fouts said the Washoe project led to the first documented non-human speaking a human language.

Washoe, the chimpanzee, gained world attention for her ability to speak more than 250 American Sign Language (ASL) signs.

My wife, Christy, and I made the 125-mile trip to visit CHCI with the hope that we might get into one of the "Chimposiums."

Julie, our docent, or institute guide, began by playing video clips of the institute's chimpanzees using sign language conversationally with researchers.

She instructed us about the proper posture and facial expressions to use when viewing the chimpanzees.

A human smile when seen by a chimpanzee is a look of anxiety. To smile like a chimp, a person exposes their bottom teeth while keeping the top teeth covered with their upper lip.

So, it was hunched over and smiling in chimp fashion that our group entered the home of the chimpanzees.

The docent explained that the chimps would only interact with us if they wanted to. CHCI does not prompt encounters and respects the fact that bringing people into the viewing area is an intrusion into their home, she said. After sitting on benches facing the large glass walls that separate the viewing rooms from the chimpanzee enclosure, we sat and waited.

Towards the opposite end of the enclosure, Dar and Tatu, an adult male and female chimpanzee, were lounging in the sunshine.

The first chimpanzee to greet us ambled out of an indoor area. He cautiously looked at our small group and then to our guide.

Initially, he started to turn away from us and head back inside.

Julie signed, "Nice people, come meet?" She told us to sign "hug/love" to the chimpanzee, and as we sat there folding our arms across our chests, his interest began to mount.

It began with a display of arm waving and running as the large adult chimpanzee rushed towards the glass separating the human visitors from the three full-grown apes inside the animals' enclosure.

Without warning, the brutish animal veneer melted away, and I sat in awe of Julie's intelligent and touching ASL conversation with Loulis, the 31-year-old chimpanzee.

For 15 minutes, our guide talked in gesture with the chimpanzee about play, feelings, people and feet — especially feet.

It was toward the end of our allotted time that Loulis signed to me directly. He asked me to show him my shoes.

Loulis, it appears, has a thing for footwear.

I stretched out my legs towards the glass and gave him a solid view of my brown hiking shoes. Loulis, however, was far more impressed by the pink flip-flops adorning the feet of the college student seated next to me.

One of the more amazing things about Loulis is that he did not learn ASL from humans. Loulis began his time in human captivity as a test subject for biomedical research.

He learned sign language from Washoe, and continues to use ASL with the three other chimpanzees at CHCI.

The chimpanzees, who at times like to dress up in clothes or masks, will look into a mirror and comment in signs on their appearance.

As we filed out of the viewing area, still hunched over, I signed, "Thank you," to Loulis.

I know that I left the Chimposium with a profound sense of wonder and a new perspective on what it means to be human.

Just outside the entranceway is a memorial to Washoe, who passed away in 2007.

As we stopped to read the inscription, I felt as if I were visiting the grave of an old friend.

It was then that I realized the more we try to separate ourselves from animals, the further removed we become from our own humanity.

The basics: Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute is located at 400 E. University Way, Ellensburg.

Chimposiums are held for the public Saturday mornings at 9:15 and 10:45 a.m. and at 12:30 and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Reservations are recommended.

Tuition for the chimposium is $10 per adult and $7.50 per student or child 12 and younger. Guests under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

For more information or to make reservations for a chimposium, call 509-963-2244.

Reporter Rick Wood: 629-8066 ext. 104 or rwood@scnews.com.