Video Size
Tlingit Conversation #22
CONTINUED from Tlingit Conversation 21. Speakers are Ḵaakáak’w Cyril George with Kathy Ruddy, Ḵaagwáaskʼ Ishmael Hope and Dzeiwsh James Crippen. Recorded July 8, 2010, by Naakil.aan Mark Hans Chester at Cyril George's home in Juneau, Alaska.
Like when thereʼs memorial or something, I, some of the people they uh, to me uh, [Laughter] they um... Iʼd like to go up to Teslin again one more time. Boy those people they... I took my hat up there. Thereʼs a lot of Deisheetaan up there from Yukon. I got a good welcome up there.
Tlingit transcription by Keet Yaanaayí Paul Marks II. English translation by Kaaxwaan Éesh George Davis with Ljáaḵkʼ Alice Taff. Edited by X̱ʼaagi Sháawu Keri Eggleston. Also by Shag̱aaw Éesh Devlin Anderstrom.
Thereʼs a little saying my, my dad used to say,
Yak'éiyi yéide át tuwdataan
Thinking in a good way
ḵaa x̱ooní lingít jiyís
for a personʼs friends and relatives
x̱'agáax' áwé.
is prayer.
True, huh? Having good thoughts and good wishes for another person, thatʼs a prayer.
X̱'agáax' áwé.
That's a prayer.
How to, sometimes when I, when I address the opposite, specially the Kaagwaantaan, sometimes it touches me here when I see some of those people. See, my wife, my first wife is Kaagwaantaan. My children are all Kaagwaantaan and my grandchildren are Kaagwaantaan. First time I did that was in Sitka. They were having a party. They held it at the Sheldon Jackson gym. I, um, I got up before them and... My Momʼs mother was Kaagwaantaan yádi. So, I started off very... Thereʼs some ladies there from Hoonah listening,
Ax̱ tlaaléelk'u hás Kaagwaantaan.
My mother's grandparents were Kaagwaantaan.
Ax̱ shatx'iyán Kaagwaantaan.
My wifeʼs people are Kaagwaantaan.
Ax̱ yátx'i
My children
Kaagwaantaan.
are Kaagwaantaan.
Ax̱ dachx̱anx'iyán
My grandchildren
Kaagwaantaan.
are Kaagwaantaan.
So I cover everybody in the Kaagwaantaan.
Woosh daag̱áa yoox̱'al.átk.
Speaking well about each other.
Have you heard that in a while?
Woosh daag̱áa yoox̱ʼa.
Talking about each other.
Thatʼs a, or like an expression when youʼre saying good words about your in-laws and
woosh daag̱áa yoox̱'al.átk.
speaking well about each other.
Áx̱ ḵuhaa.
The time comes.
The time comes, my dad used to tell me,
«Tlél aadé tlákw
“You can't always
g̱ushkáa {i} inax̱dudzinukji yé.»
be put on a person's lap.” [be protected]
Canʼt sit you on my lap all the time.
Áx̱ ḵu.aa ḵuhaa
But there comes a time
woosh daag̱áa yoox̱'al.átk.
to speak well about each other.
When that time comes, we let our hearts hang out. Weʼre as a people, we donʼt show emotion. But when our brother-in-law is hurting, we, we never hold back.
Tlél wáa sá, góok.
It's OK, go ahead.
[At.shooḵ]
[Laughter]
X̱at woonaa.
I died. [Respond as if NMHC died.]
[At.shooḵ]
[Laughter]
(We need to add another tape to that. The battery? The microphone. His dadʼs clan. Whatʼs that? His dadʼs, his dadʼs clan. Oh did he finish? He didnʼt finish talking about his speech though, did he? No. OK. Iʼm listening. Pretty awsome. Yeah, when we get chance weʼll ask him. Gunalchéesh. Weʼll be fine.) [Ḵaakáak’w cannot hear so Ḵaagwáaskʼ is writing notes to him on a computer screen.] Say, um, I was invited to a, Fairbanks totem pole raising, Kaagwaantaan. The AFN (Alaska Federation of Natives)was having their convention up there. George Dalton from Hoonah. So I went up there. They asked me to help whatʼs his name, Austin Hammond. He was always good with me. I, uh, I coordinated youth program for the CITA (???) programs when I was working at Central Council. Austin, he came down one time to ask me for help. He had a youth camp up there. He was nice; he told me, He invited me to come up. So I went up and I stayed with him. Oh, he liked it that I really understood his, my hearing was good then too, yeah. Just talking Tlingit. When I first got up there, next morning we got up.
[ Crew is working with equipment.]
Ch'áakw
Long ago
haa shukaadeḵáaxʼw aadé at x̱áayi yé, yáx̱ áyá at gax̱toox̱áa yeedát.
how our ancestors ate, thatʼs how weʼre going to eat right now.
Breakfast. Weʼre going to eat the real, our ancestors ate. He had dryfish, sockeye dryfish? Ooligan oil. That was our breakfast.
Ḵúnáx̱ Lingít áwé.
Really Tlingit.
So heʼd talk to me. He always called me,
kík'.
kid brother.
His kid brother. When we got up there George Dalton was the one that he wanted me to... When we got up there I spotted Austin and I said, came to him,
«Tél x̱wasakú yá shkalneek.»
“I don't know this story.”
«Á, g̱anú, kík', g̱anú.
“Sit down, kid brother, sit down.
Sit down by me.
I een sh kakḵwalneek.
I will tell you this story.
Kadulneek áhé al'óon yá ḵáa.
They say this man was hunting.
Sháchgi káa daaḵ góot áwé áyá, ???
When he came out on the open meadow,
g̱uwakaan du.áx̱ji al.áx̱ji áyá.
he was blowing a deer call.
Yóonax̱.á awsiteen
He saw on the far side
du yinaadé yaa nashíx.»
itʼs running toward him.”
Ch'a ldakát uháan áyá Lingítx̱ haa sateeyí,
All of us who are Tlingit,
aadé haa ée at dultóowu yé,
the way they used to teach us,
ldakát át tuwaḵítkw.
we're always suspicious of everything.
A daa.itnagóowu tsú,
Their mannerisms (or body language),
at gutu.ádi,
the wild animals,
haa ée dultóow.
they teach us.
We're taught body language of all animals. Part of our schooling.
«Áyá altín, du yinaadé yaa nashíx.
“So he was keeping an eye on it running towards him.
Ásíwé awsiteen g̱ooch áwé.»
And now he saw it. It was a wolf.”
It was a wolf.
Tléix' yateeyi át tsú,
And this one thing,
haa óonayi.
our guns.
Our guns. Never put a shell in the chamber until youʼre ready to fire, because of accidents.
«Tlax̱ du x̱áng̱aa yaa gashéex áwé du óonayi,
“When it was closing in on him, his rifle,
tóo kei akaawa(g̱íxʼ).
he loaded it (with a round).
Du x̱áng̱aa yaa gashéex áwé,
As it was closing in on him,
yei ishḵáḵch áwé
it would sit
g̱unéi usheexch.
and then it would start running again.
Ch'a g̱óot yéide áyá adaa.itwoogoo.
It was acting different.
Itʼs acting different.
Yéi du x̱áng̱aa yaa (gashéex)
When it was coming close,
aag̱áa áwé awsiteen
thatʼs when he saw
du oox̱.
his teeth.
At shuḵ.wéyáx̱ áwé yakayaxát.
Itʼs face looked like it was smiling.
That wolf looked like it was smiling, his... He pulled his lips back like that. As it got closer, he noticed there was this bone stuck in the teeth. So he made a big production.
Du óonayi
His rifle
ha, aas yát ashawsitán.
he leaned it against a tree.
What, moved away from it. He stood out there.
Tlax̱ yéi du x̱ánt isheex áwé,
When the wolf ran right up to him,
Haagú.
Come here.
Haagú, i eedé kḵwadashée.
Come here. I'll help you.
Come here. Iʼm going to help.
Wé du x̱ánt góot áwé kínde ash yalatín.
When the wolf came by him, he was looking up at him.
A x̱áni yan tuxʼ.uwatsúw.
He knelt down beside it.
Got down on his knee, put his arm. He was talking to him.
Yan ín.
Be ready.
You be ready.
Aax̱ toodé kḵwayéesh.
I'm going to pull it out.
And he let him, when he let him go, moved away looking up at him.
Aag̱áa áwé aan yoo x̱'ali.átk.
At that time he was talking to the wolf.
I yáx̱ áyá x̱at yatee.
I'm just like you.
Ax̱ yátx'i x̱'eis atx̱ág̱aa áyá át x̱waagoot.
I'm going around for food for my children.
X̱at kalax̱ítl.
Bless me.
X̱at kalax̱ítl.»
Bless me.'”
Bring me luck. Austin told me,
«Yeedát áwé
“Right now
ch'a yeisú haa káwu lax̱éitl.
luck is upon us.
Haa káanich haa kát shoowagút yá lax̱éitl.»
Our in-law brought the luck upon us.”
We still have that luck that, the story goes that this man, whatever heʼs going after, laid out where heʼs going, that wolf brought him luck. Nathan Jackson was the one that carved that totem pole. In the middle, that wolf, he had a piece of stick like a, a little bigger than that, stuck in it. During our speeches between me and Austin Hammond, we both pulled it out to thank the people for it. Yeah, thatʼs a good luck story. Would you like... Did I tell you that one on that, that boy?
Aakʼwtaatseen.
[personal name]
Oh, that would be good to hear. That would be really good. Did I tell you that one? Do you want me to, you want to hear it? Um. Yeah.
Yadak'átsk'u áyá
A young boy
héen yík áa ash koolyát.
he's playing in the stream.
Awsiteen á x̱áat.
He saw the fish.
Áxʼ yaa ndanúsh.
It was starting to rot there.
«Éeee!»
“Pew!”
[At.shooḵ]
[Laughter]
Aax̱ áyá yú du x̱ánt uwa.át yá ḵu.oo.
Then the people came by him.
«Haa een,
“With us,
haa een yaakw yíx̱ g̱a.á.» {y}
get in the boat with us,” (they said.)
Hú jiwdudlihaa.
That one was sent.
Du tuwáxʼ ḵwá tle Lingít áwé.
He thought it was a human being.
To him these are human beings. Wintertime.
Wé táakw,
Winter,
táakw hasdu káx' yéi nanéi áwé,
when winter came upon them,
teesh du kát uwagút yá yadak'átsk'u.
loneliness overtook the young boy.
Got lonesome. Didnʼt know anybody there. Heʼd sit by himself.
Du yáx̱ atyátx'ich du jeedé at shatléḵwx'.
Young children like him would bring things to him.
Kids like him bring him things to try to cheer him up. All winter long.
Taakw.eetí,
Spring time,
taakw.eetí áwé,
itʼs spring time,
yánde yaa ḵunanein.
the people were getting ready.
Áwé hasdu sháade háni,
Their leader,
«Yaakw du een gax̱dutaan Aakʼwtaatseen.
“Let somebody take a boat with Aakʼwtaatseen.
Letʼs take a boat with him.
Ḵaatukax̱sakehéenidé.»
To the Stream that Unravels Your Thoughts.”
I heard this one used in, uh, during memorials when some people are hurting. You know, I told this story in Kake when Clarence Jacksonʼs mom died. They were having a memorial for her and ANB Hall. My wife and I went to the memorial. Saw Clarence Jackson sitting way up front there all by himself. We sat kind of in the back. I told Judy,"Iʼm going to go up there and tell him Iʼm, Iʼll go with him to Kake." "Go ahead," she said. So I went up,
«Clarence, i een ḵukḵwatéen Ḵéex̱ʼde.»
“Clarence, I'll go with you to Kake.”
"Oh, my. Iʼll pay your way," he says. So we, he chartered four planes. I went on the last one. When we, uh, when I got to Kake there was a car waiting for me. They took me, they took me to one of the homes. When I came in, the coffin was there. It was open, just the family. A good sized home. All the family sitting in there. They gave me coffee, and some pastry. After a while Clarence got up, walked over there by, by his mom,
«Cyril, haa éet x̱'atán.»
“Cyril, talk to us.”
"Speak to us." I knew a lot of the people that were there didnʼt understand Tlingit, so I told them, "Iʼm glad that this is the family. What Iʼm gonna say, in a big place, it gets lost. I told this Aakʼwtaatseen story. Now, in the meantime, Peter Jack and the others were heading for Kake in a seine boat to be with them. The illustration I used,
Aakʼwtaatseen.
[personal name]
Yaakw du een gax̱dutaan.
Let somebody take a boat with him.
Ḵaatukax̱sakehéenidé.
To the Stream that Unravels Your Thoughts.
Letʼs take a boat with him to the stream that unravels your thoughts. What goes through you mind when youʼre, you really get hit, you lose a loved one.
Ḵaatukax̱sakehéenidé.
To the Stream that Unravels Your Thoughts.
I told him, "I hope seeing us here has the effect of coming to that stream that unravels your thoughts. They, that night they took the body to that big hall, town hall. Clarence Jackson, he came out. He said, "Cyril, speak to us. I want the people of Kake to hear what you said to us today." By then Peter Jack and my boy Joey and their family were there. I told this story,
Aakʼwtaatseen.
[personal name]
I told them, I hope that seeing us there (from Angoon, bunch there you see) seeing us here has the effect of coming to that stream that unravels your thoughts. When I got through, never happened to me before and itʼs never happened to me since, all the Kake people stood up. [Ḵaakáak’w claps his hands.] To thank me. Sat down. This story, all the things that little boy went through, when they were leaving, the, um, the chief came to him,
«Át iyadux̱éini,
“When they bring you there,
yei kg̱isatéen i tláa.
you will see your mother.
Du dayéen yei kg̱eenóok, yakg̱ilatéen.
You will sit there staring at her face.
Yei igux̱satéen.
She will see you.
Kei kg̱wa.éex',
She will yell,
K'íx̱'aa haat kayshát!
Bring a gaff hook!
Hé x̱áat áwé tlákw x̱at yalatín.
That fish is always staring at me.
This chief told him, "Sit down and watch your mom. After a while sheʼll notice you." The first hint that he wasnʼt a little boy. "Sheʼs going to yell for somebody to bring a gaff hook. When he, when they gaff you,
iduk'íx̱'ni,
when they gaff you,
i kú tóode eedatl'ékw.»
dodge toward your tail.
"Duck towards your tail. You wonʼt feel a thing." Sure enough he saw his mom working on the fish there by the stream. He thought he was sitting there watching. After a while, she noticed. She yelled for somebody to bring a gaff hook. 'This fish keeps watching me.' When they brought that gaff hook just like he was told he, when he was gaffed he ducked towards his tail. They threw that fish in front of his mom. When she got through with the fish she went there to cut the head off. She screamed. She said her, she said this fish is wearing her boyʼs neckband. They have a neckband. The shaman didnʼt waste any time. At that house where they, told everybody, "Get busy clean out everything." Usually have mud floors. Everything was cleaned out. They put a board up above where that fire place is. This board they put feathers on it. Laid this fish on there. People came. Something was going to happen. Along about midnight they heard a hum coming from up there. MmMmmMmm. The young bucks climbed up there.
"Aakʼwtaatseen is up here."
"My little boy is back. He came back." The things that, that we tell about what happened to him when he was up in that place. He was the one that told these stories. See, our stories about things that he did. When he grew up he was a powerful shaman. Healed people by touching them.
Aakʼwtaatseen.
We, um, I tell the tourists, as I get older and think about these things, when I think back on some of the uh, things I was taught as I grew up, those things arenʼt so impossible. Weʼre taught to believe. Weʼre taught to believe. The Bible says the same thing. When we migrated from uh, from Teslin, that was after that world flood. The killer whale, killer whale tribe, they have stories. They originate in Hood Bay. As the tide started to move up, some of the people started to do the same thing. Animals started to do the same thing. Bears and wolves started to kill some of the people. Thereʼs a place across Angoon, Chatham Straits over here, the Chatham Cannery here up the... I used to love climbing the mountain with my dad, hunting. I came across one place there. You could see Point Gardiner out here, Admiralty Island. You can see Angoon over that way and all the way up this... I ask my dad if he knew anything about that. He hadnʼt heard. I came across this one in de Lagunaʼs stories when talking about Jimmy George and Billy Jones stories. There was a rock pile about that high. I donʼt know, not too long. Itʼs about... Up on that mountain. You donʼt see any loose rocks on it. Itʼs all in that. The men started to build those to protect their family. But later they finally started to build rafts. When we, when we left Teslin we got stuck around that mountain not too far from Teslin. Robert Zuboff, he told those old timers; I told you Robert told stories at the University of Alaska. With money he got paid he took his wife into Teslin and around there. He traded stories with a old timer. When he came down we went to see him. He told us, "By gosh," he said, "those people up there, they know our history better than we do." Like the, being around that mountain, they told him, they were there for fourteen years. When we finally decided to move on, just about half of our people went back to Teslin. Thatʼs the old people. They took some young ones. They didnʼt think theyʼd survive that. The, uh, killer whale tribe they... Iʼve heard some stories that were told and I donʼt remember and I donʼt dare tell them because theyʼre not my stories. But I tell this part when they joined us because they... That Lake Atlin, Atlin is a Tlingit name so
Áa Tlein,
Big Lake (Atlin),
Big Lake,
and Daḵl'aweidí got the
[clan name]
they took that name from that sand bar at the southern end on Lake Atlin.
Daaḵlʼéiw.
Interior Sand.
Daḵl'aweidí.
[clan name]
See they hit dry land up here above. When they saw us moving along over here some of the men came over. Asked, "What are you people doing?" We told them we were going to salt water. They asked us, "Can we join you? Thatʼs where weʼre from." We were happy to have company. When some things happen. Did I tell you my mosquito story? Oh, at least one time but it would be good to hear again! Well Iʼll throw that one in. That mountain, when we lived around there for fourteen years, some of our men would go hunting. Disappear. Not a sign. Nothing. Some, some people were saying, "Thereʼs a cannibal around here." This one lady, she had two boys. The older one went hunting. Never came back. The younger boy told his mom, "Iʼm going to go look for my brother. I think I know what happened to him. If people ask, just tell them I went hunting." So he was walking along. He saw this man off in, coming towards him. So he stood and watched him. As he got closer he could make out that man is carrying a club. When it was getting closer, he started to run towards him. The old timers up there told him, being seventeen years old, that boy, he froze from fright, couldnʼt move. When he came to, he was in a sack, laying on the ground. The sack was untied so he climbed out. He could hear this cannibal was inside a cave. Hear him moving around there. Standing besides the opening, he saw that club there. He went over there and climbed over the opening. There he got ready; heʼs going to come out some time. He didnʼt wait very long; here he saw the head coming on. Boy swung. The cannibal went down so the boy jumps down. Really goes to work on him. When he is sure it was dead he sat down by it. He was thinking,
«Wáa sá óosh gé x̱wsinei?
“What could I possibly do to him?
Aadé toowú néekw haa kaadé ajeewanag̱i yé yá ḵáa.»
How much sorrow this man has brought upon us.”
What else can I do to him? Boy, he built a big bonfire. When it was going good, he rolled him on there. So, as he was burning, he was stirring it... I got to show you something.