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Tlingit Conversation #30
Speakers are Achkwéi Lena Farkas and Naakil.aan Mark Hans Chester. Recorded July 20, 2010 at the home of Achkwéi in Yakutat, Alaska, by Ljáaḵkʼ Alice Taff.
Transcription by Shag̱áaw Éesh Devlin Anderstrom. English translation by Shák’sháani Margaret Dutson with Ljáaḵkʼ Alice Taff. Edited by X̱’aagi Sháawu Keri Eggleston.
That's all. Then whenever we start drinking
Hóochʼ áwé. {tle w} Tle wé g̱unéi at wutudanaayí áwé
then we start singing love songs, too.
tle {yaa} yaa shukantoolx̱úx̱ tsú.
Thatʼs what the people used to do a long time ago, I mentioned that yesterday.
When theyʼd start drinking and singing those Indian songs.
I really got turned off by that. Since I was a kid, I just donʼt ever, I couldnʼt, that was when, when the government, when BIA said we couldnʼt talk our language.
{wáa sá s wáa sá s iya}
How did you say in Tlingit language,
Wáa sá s iyasáa Lingít x̱ʼéináx̱,
"You canʼt talk your language."
"There is no way in your language, the Lingít language, you can speak."
«Tlél aadé {i} yee x̱ʼéináx̱, Lingít x̱ʼéináx̱ yóo x̱ʼeeyataani yé.»
yeah, (no way) you can speak it. [repeat of the end of the previous phrase]
{yóo x̱ʼak}, yeah, yóo x̱ʼeeyataani yáx̱.
you know?
Uh, anyway, the people would get so lonely, x̱á?
That when they started drinking, theyʼd start singing their songs.
A long time ago, during that time, even before my time or my motherʼs time,
Uh, we, they couldnʼt speak, uh, Tlingit, so when theyʼd start drinking, because BIA said, "You canʼt talk your language," they would start singing their songs in Tlingit because they didnʼt, you know.
The non-Natives couldnʼt understand what they were saying, you know.
So theyʼd just sing Tlingit. I resented that so much. Oh, I hated it.
You just work with your mother, is that why?
Chʼas i tláa een yéi jeené, ách ákwé?
But I drank when I was young, you know.
How do you call 'I drank,'?
Wáa sá duwasáakw, "I drank?"
I drank.
At x̱wadináa.
And, uh, now I, you get wise as you get older.
Say it in Tlingit, "You get wise as you get older."
Lingít x̱ʼéináx̱ sá, "You get wise as you get older."
As it is really beginning to become clear around you, you think about things well.
Kʼidéin áwé tle i daa yaa anadág̱i yáx̱ áwé kʼidéin at daa yóo teeyatánk.
That is how they call it.
Á áwé yéi duwasáakw. {wáa yóo}
You look at something from all sides and, and, uh, that makes you wise.
You think about it.
A daa yóo teeyatánk.
Uhuh, youʼre thinking about different things.
It's trouble to be getting old.
Dawóotl yaa ndashán.
Yes, boy, itʼs hard getting old.
Aa, boy, yatʼéexʼ yaa ndashán.
And there was one old lady, the one that stayed across from us, Mrs. B. A. Jack.
She always used to say, {xʼusḵ}
"Life is hard."
«Yatʼéexʼ ḵustí.»
And she was a grandma already when I heard her say that. Iʼll never forget it.
I thought about it about ten or fifteen years ago. What she meant was,
"Life is hard." Life is hard.
«Yatʼéexʼ ḵustí.» Life is hard.
And it is, because a long time ago they never thought of that.
Before the white man came, they, they knew they could, I mean
They are very strong.
Ḵúnáx̱ áwé {has wu} has litseen.
Yes, they were taught things well in the Tlingit way.
Aaá, kʼidéin has du ée at wududlitóow Lingít niyaanáx̱.
Whatever else, these
Daa sá tsú yáa
things that weʼre going to eat,
gax̱toox̱áa át,
and just everything
ḵa chʼa ldakát át
whatever is going to be hunted.
daa sá gax̱dulʼóoni.
Just everything, and these children of ours, too, itʼs their grandparents that watch them.
Chʼa ldakát át áwé, ḵa yáa haa yátxʼi tsú has du léelkʼu hásch áwé has ultínch.
Then only when they are grown enough,
Tle ayáx̱ has wuwáadi áwé tsáa,
they are given to their maternal uncles, the young boys.
has du káak jeet jidutaanch wé ḵáaxʼwsáani.
They are given to their maternal aunts, the little girls.
{has du} Has du tláakʼw jeet jidutaanch wé {shaat} shaaxʼwsáani.
It is they who teach it to them there.
Hásch áwé áa has altóow nuch.
Their mothers and fathers though, their mothers, this salmon,
Has du tláa ḵa du éesh ḵu.aa áwé, has du tláa yáa x̱áat,
putting up dryfish and
at x̱ʼéeshi yéi daané ḵa
and berries
ḵa tléiḵw
they put it up (for the winter).
yánde yaa kakdulgéich.
The men, though, they would gillnet and they would hunt.
Yá ḵáaxʼw ḵwaawé has asg̱eiwú nuch ḵa has alʼóon nuch.
Uh, winter,
Uh, táakw,
for winter.
táakw yís.
That's right.
Ayáx̱ áwé.
That is why it wasnʼt like trouble a long time ago.
{á, á áw} Ách áwé {tlél hél haa} hél kaxéelʼ yáx̱ utéeyin chʼáakw.
Right now, though, itʼs like weʼre being reprimanded
Yeedát ḵwá tle haa yadujee yáx̱ áyá {tle yéi j}
when we arenʼt working, we donʼt have any money, itʼs gone!
tlél yéi jitooneiyí tlél dáanaa haa jee, hóochʼ!
Yes, so the ones that donʼt know anything, some of them, they are always so very broke, you see.
Aaá, á áwé l at {wusit} wusakoowúch áwé a x̱oo aa tlax̱ yéi has koowáalʼch tlákw x̱á.
Because they {don} didnʼt learn to do anything to make money, theyʼre, some of them are so poor all the time.
Some of them, though, "I donʼt want it!
A x̱oo aa ḵu.aa «Tlél ax̱ tuwáa ushgú!
I donʼt want it!"
Tlél ax̱ tuwáa ushgú!»
Long ago, though,
Chʼáakw ḵu.aa,
that isnʼt how it was.
{tléil} tlél ayáx̱ áwé.
Yeah, and uh, when she said,
"Life is hard,"
«Yatʼéexʼ ḵustí,»
Iʼll never forget it in my mind. {and, and} But I only found the answer after about fifteen or twenty years ago, when I heard her saying that.
I never forgot it.
How do you call it, 'I'll never forget'?
Wáa sá s iyasáa, "Iʼll never forget?"
I will not forget it.
Tlél a kaadé x̱at sakg̱waxʼaaḵw.
Yes.
Aaá.
And, and I didnʼt from that time on. Life is hard.
Itʼs such a short statement but it just stayed with me, just because
I wasnʼt really sure, as a child what she, what she meant.
You think about it well.
A daa yóo teeyatánk kʼidéin.
I thought about it that way.
A daa yóo tuwx̱aatán aadé.
That's the way I heard it, when
{a} Aadé x̱ʼawx̱aa.ax̱i yé yóo
they were walking from work, you see, theyʼre very tired.
yéi jinéidáx̱ áwé yaa s na.át x̱á, ḵúnáx̱ wudixwétl.
That is when she said that.
Aag̱áa áwé yéi yaawaḵaa.
He couldnʼt walk, her husband, you see.
Hél yóo kooshgútkw wé du x̱úx̱ x̱áa.
He, he was overweight and short legs.
So he just always carved, though.
Á áwé chʼa wé kadchʼáakʼw nuch ḵu.aa áwé s.
He carved. And all these, um, soldiers {and} and the Navy theyʼd come to his place and buy these totem poles.
Some of those people that, that he sold to, during World War II,
about six or eight years ago, some of them came back here to Yakutat to see it,
and they brought the totem poles back that he,
that they bought from him.
They gave it to Ḵwáan (Yak-tat Ḵwáan, the local village corporation), I donʼt know what they did with it.
Thatʼs amazing! -NMHC
Likoodzée x̱á! I always told them, "You should put it on display in the school, {so} for the kids that are interested in carving."
So he made a living, you know, with her, and uh,
How do you call 'interested'?
Wáa sá s iyasáa «interested»?
Uh, I would say it,
I want to know it.
Ax̱ tuwáa sigóo x̱wasakoowú.
I want to learn to be able to do it, or
you know, or speak it, or whatever, itʼs something you want to do, youʼre interested.
Yes.
Aaá.
I would like to learn how to carve. [as an example sentence]
Ax̱ tuwáa sigóo x̱shagóogu wé kadachʼáakʼw.
Oh, yes. Itʼs good. Thank you. Aaa.
Oh, aaá. Yakʼéi. Gunalchéesh. Yes.
People used to know everything long ago, you see. This boat building, too,
Chʼa ldakát át has awuskóowun chʼáakw x̱áayá. Yáa yaakw layeix̱ tsú
they know it,
has awsikóo,
and these
ḵa yáa
traps, putting up snares, you see.
g̱aatáa, dáasʼaa yéi daaduneiyí x̱á.
Uh,
And the women, also,
ḵa yáa sháa tsú,
this
yáa
harbor seal,
tsaa,
everything from the water.
ldakát yá héendáx̱.
Oh, how is it called?
Ó, wáa sá duwasáakw?
Underwater thing?
Hintaak.ádi gé?
Yes, underwater thing.
Aaá, hintaak.ádi.
So then
Áwé yáa
after it is killed, like this,
wudujaag̱ídáx̱ {yóo dulx'ée}
then, this, its
áwé, yáa a
its stomach, the stomach.
du yoowú, the stomach.
It is cut up out of it.
Áwé aax̱ kéi duxaashch.
From there it is washed.
Aax̱ áwé ndu.úsʼch.
Why is that?
Wáanáx̱ sáwé?
It is dried, this
{du} Dusxúk nuch yáa
A drying frame.
Tʼeesh.
Onto a drying frame?
Tʼeesh kaadé, gé?
For those things they would make it, raincoat, rainpants.
Yóotʼát yís áwé yéi daadunéi nich, raincoat, rainpants.
These its guts. Rubber boots?
Yáa a yígi. Sʼélʼ xʼwán gé?
No, thatʼs a new name.
Yeah. Tléikʼ, yées saa{yí} áwé.
Rubber. Yes.
Sʼélʼ Aaá.
So then, uh,
Á áwé, ah,
when people have enough,
ayáx̱ ḵaa jee yakoogeiyí áwé,
it is cut
naduxáshch
the way that it is going to fit a personʼs body.
yá aadé ḵaa náag̱aa kwg̱atee yé.
Like, thereʼs small size, large.
So then,
Á áwé,
uh, it is sewn together.
uh, {wóoshde} wóosht áwé duḵáaych.
then this, and the hat thing, too, you see, hood.
tle yáa, ḵa sʼáaxw tsú át x̱á, hood.
After it is sewn well,
Áwé {át át} kʼidéin wuduḵaayídáx̱ áwé,
they put it on.
uh, yéi has ana.eich.
Out of those seal stomach they made raingear.
It's really amazing.
Ḵúnáx̱ áwé likoodzí.
Uhuh, long ago we didn't need anything.
Uhuh, ḵúnáx̱ chʼáakw tlél daa sá need-x̱ wutulayeix̱.
How was it that they knew it
Wáa sá s {has aw} hásch awsikóo
{a yoowúx̱}
it is the stomach, this
a yoowúx̱ sitee yá
our clothing.
haa naa.ádi.
Well, why?
Haaw, wáanáx̱ sáwé?
How am I going to say,
Howʼd they figure that out? Wáa sá yakḵwaḵáa "Howʼd they figure that out?"
"How did they know how they"
«Wáa sá has awsikóo wáa sá has»
Yes, "How did they know it?"
Aaá, «Wáa sá has awsikóo?»
I don't know.
Tlél x̱wasakú.
I was born after that!
Dei a ítnáx̱ áwé ḵux̱wdzitee!
I donʼt know, I was born after after that.
Really scientists, you see, our grandparents were.
Ḵúnáx̱ áwé scientists x̱áawé haa léelkʼu hásx̱ wusitee.
Long ago now, you see, the weather too, indeed
Dei chʼáakw x̱áawé yá ḵutí tsú, x̱á, the weather, they,
long ago, they always observed it, you see,
chʼáakw a káa yan has yoodáaych x̱á,
how the weather was going to be.
wáa sá yá ḵutí kwg̱ateeyí.
Outside,
Yáa gáan
and the water, too, sometimes, you know, it really flows up inland. (the tide comes way up)
ḵa yáa héen tsú wáang̱aneens x̱á ḵúnáx̱ daaḵ udáaych.
In the fall time,
Fall time-xʼ,
when itʼs raining here all the time, it just flows up, this,
yáa tlákw daak wustaaní, chʼas kéi gadáaych yáa
this tide, you know,
yáa tide, x̱á,
and, uh,
ḵa, ah,
it was always known
duskóowch
when the weather is going to be really cold, you know,
ḵúnáx̱ kéi ḵugux̱sa.áatʼi, x̱á,
when the weather is getting cold,
kéi ḵunas.áatʼi áwé,
uh,
ah,
at peopleʼs homes,
ḵaa neilíxʼ,
they are done up well, you know, (ʼmade good,ʼ to protect from the elements)
kʼidéin yéi daaduné, x̱á,
lest the people get cold, you see.
ḵusoo.áatʼ g̱aa x̱á.
And the clothes, too.
Ḵa yáa naa.át tsú.
That seal. They use seal hides
Wé tsaa. Tsaa doogú áwé yéi du.úx̱xʼ
and the, the
ḵa wé, wé
uh, slippers, these
ah, slippers, yáa
shoes that walk around the home,
neil daa nagutch téel,
they always made it.
yéi daa dunéi nuch.
And the ones that are this long, too, they made, just like boots, you know. (hip boots)
Ḵa yéi kwdiyátʼi aa tsú yéi daaduné, tle boots yáx̱ x̱á.
That is
Á áwé
everything, whatever
tle ldakát át, daa sá
anything, the wild animals, too,
daa sá {y} tle yáa at gutu.ádi tsu,
uh, we would make it into clothing long ago, and blankets.
uh, naa.átx̱ wutulayéx̱ch chʼáakw, ḵa xʼóow.
Yes.
Aaá.
Armor too, probably.
Armor tsú, shákdé.
How is it called? I forgot.
Wáa sá duwasáakw? A kát x̱at seiwaxʼáḵw. Am,
Oops.
Tlám.
Oh, that's all right.
Ah, tlél wáa sá.
Thereʼs probably no word for that that exists.
Tlél shákdé a yís yoo x̱ʼatánk {ḵudzitee} ḵoostí.
{They, their} Nobody might have thought of a word for armor. I havenʼt heard it.
I don't know.
Tlél x̱wasakú.
I don't know.
Tlél x̱wasakú.
{itʼs a th} itʼs a thought, itʼs a,
uh, Iʼll give you permission to find out. You come back and tell me.
Yes, thank you.
Aaá, gunalchéeshkʼ.
I'm going to call you, three in the morning,
I jeedé x̱'akḵwadatáan násʼk gaaw tsʼootaat,
"Get up! Get up!"
«Sheendé! Sheendé!»
['Laughter']
['At shooḵ']
That's all.
Hóochʼ áwé.
Yes.
Aaá. I think Iʼm done.
That is indeed the way. Many thanks.
Yéi x̱áawé. Aatlein gunalchéesh.
Yes.
Aaá.
Here.
Ná.
You have really made me happy, that you all came here.
Ḵúnáx̱ ax̱ toowú ylikʼéi, yáaxʼ haat yeey.aadí.
Yes, me too, me too, thank you.
Aaá, x̱át tsú, x̱át tsú, gunalchéesh.
Well, Iʼm glad you folks came.