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Tlingit Conversation #46
...daayax̱aḵá.
...I said.
This conversation is continued from #45. Speakers are Ḵaaklig̱éi (also spelled as Ḵaaklig̱é) Norman James, Dagé Winnie Atlin and Tánkʼ Sháayi Éesh Smith Katzeek. Recorded Naakil.aan Mark Hans Chester August 14, 2010, in Carcross, YT, Canada.
Lingít transcription by X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell. English translation by Kaaxwaan Éesh George Davis and Shákʼsháani Margaret Dutson with Ljáaḵkʼ Alice Taff. Edited by X̱ʼaagi Sháawu Keri Eggleston and by Yeiltʼoochʼ Tláa Collyne Bunn.
Ch'áakw, du éesh,
Long ago, his father,
haa eeg̱ayáak, hít,
(in) the house below us [towards the shore],
áa yéi téeyin, aan yee áa, áa yéi has téeyin, ch'áakw.
he used to live there, below the town, they used to live there, long ago.
Áaa, {heh}
Yes,
x̱at yaawatín.
he recognized me.
Áyá,
So,
ax̱ éet x̱'eiwatán.
he spoke to me.
Ḵut wooxeex tsá,
It got lost just then,
a toowú. [At shooḵ]
its inside [spirit]. [Laughter]
Kát kei wdigáat??? tle á, tle hóoch'. [At shooḵ]
The words piled up, ??? so that's it. [Laughter]
Yoo x̱'atángi ch'u tle a tóot shoowaxíx.
It ran out of words inside it just then.
Aaá. [At shooḵ]
Yes. [Laughter]
Góok, {kaneesh-} sh kaneelneek, wa.é.
Go ahead and tell it [a story], you.
Dei ax̱ tóot shuwaxíx.
Now I ran out of words.
Tlóoʼ! [At shooḵ]
Whoops! [Laughter]
Jilḵáat Ḵwáani x̱ánt kawdiyaa, áyá tle hóoch'. [At shooḵ]
The Chilkat people show up, then that's it. [Laughter]
Ḵaaklig̱éi, wa.é, sh kaneelneek. Hm.
Ḵaaklig̱éi [Norman], you go ahead and tell us a story. Hmm.
Uh, x̱át tsú,
Me too,
sh kalneek áx̱ shuwaxeex. [At shooḵ]
I ran out of stories. [Laughter]
Yaawat'áa yáa neil.
It's warm in here.
Aaa.
Yes.
Ch'áakw áyá,
Long ago,
á áyá, at yátx'i sáani neil yéi dax̱ téeyin, aah?
the children used to be home, right?
Aaá.
Yes.
Adáx̱ áwé wé sgóonde dax̱ woo.aat.
Then they went to school.
Aag̱áa áwé has du jeedáx̱ wuduwatee, wé has du yoo x̱'atángi.
And then it was taken from them, their language.
It's the government. Yéi duwasáakw, "government."
It's the government. They call it “government”.
Hah. Yeedát ḵu.a tsu government áwé tsu dáanaa yaa ashunalxíx,
Now the government is running out of money,
yoo x̱'atángi has du jeedé,
giving them language,
haa jeedé. Aaá.
giving us language. Yes.
Tlél yaa ḵoosgé wé "government" yéi duwasáagu aa. [At shooḵ]
The one called “government” has no wisdom. [Laughter]
Aaá. Ayáx̱ áwé sh keelneek.
Yes, you're telling the truth.
Ḵa yóo,
And that,
ḵa yáa, yeedát tsú,
and this, now, this very moment,
yá haa yátx'u sáani tlél ayáx̱ has yéi jineiyí.
our children, itʼs not right, their work.
{Has dux̱íshin-} Haa dux̱íshdin.
They used to spank us [beat us].
Aaá.
Yes.
Yeedát ḵu.aa áwé,
Now though,
yá haa yátx'u ch'a, ch'a daa sá,
our children, whatever,
tlél ayáx̱ yéi has jineiyí,
when their work is not right,
has du kaadéi yeeyaḵaayí,
when you say that to them,
policeman x̱ánde nashíxch.
they run every time to a policeman.
Aaá.
Yes.
Aadáx̱ áwé tsu wé haa,
From there again, our,
uháan, ḵu.aa áwé tsu we're in trouble here,
us, however, again we're in trouble
kaxéel' tóo yéi haa nateech, aaa, has du daat.
we're always in trouble, yes, according to them.
Ách áwé yeedát haa yátx'u sáani tlél {has du tun-} has du,
This is why now our children don't, their,
ḵushtuyáx̱ ch'a máa sá yéi has jineiyí.
it doesnʼt matter how hard they work.
Tíl áyáx̱ áwé ch'a tlákw wé government, chʼa tlákw.
It's always not right, the government, always.
Haa yátx'u sáani tlél áyáx̱ has ḵoostí.
Our young children are not living right.
Aaá.
Yes.
{Tlél áyá}Tlél yá has du tláa tlél áyá,
They don't, their mothers, they don't
tlél has ayawunei.
they don't discipline them.
Haa gushé {máa sá de am} máa sá yéi jigax̱toonéi, áyá haa yátx'u, haa dachx̱ánx'i hás.
We donʼt know how we are going to work for the benefit of our children, our grandchildren.
Áyá, haat ḵux̱waatín yé, ḵu.aa
I travelled here, though,
dleit ḵáa ée dultóow Lingít x̱'éináx̱ yoo x̱'atánk. [At shooḵ]
the white people are being taught the Tlingit language. [Laughter]
A x̱oo aa tlax̱ k'idéin yoo has x̱'ayatánk áyá, aaá, dleit ḵáa.
Some of the white people speak very well. Yes.
Yóot, Fairbanks yóodáx̱ yéi duwasáakw, máa sá duwasáakw wéit?
Over there, from Fairbanks they call him, what do they call him there?
Jeff, Jeff Leer.
[Dr. Jeff Leer, Weihá, is a linguist who speaks and works with the Tlingit language.]
Oh yeah. Yisikóo gé?
Do you know him?
Aaá.
Yes.
Yéil Ḵunéiyi.
Yéil Ḵunéiyi. [One of Dr. Jeff Leerʼs names]
Yéil Ḵunéiyi.
Yéil Ḵunéiyi.
Aaá, Lukaax̱.ádich, has...
Yes, the Lukaax̱.ádi clan...
Lukaax̱.ádich {du jeet aw} du yáa wduwasáay. [du yéi wduwasáa.] Hm.
the Lukaax̱.ádi named him that. Hm.
Ḵeixwnéich áwé, Nora.
Ḵeixwnéi did it, Nora. [Nora Dauenhauer]
{Ax̱} tlél x̱wasakú. [At shooḵ]
I donʼt know. [Laughter]
[Yee] Yee aayí áyá. Góok. [At shooḵ]
It's your guys' thing. Go ahead. [Laughter]
Yan gé yéi yatee ldakát yáat'aa, ch'as,
Is it finished all of this, only,
x'áan yáx̱ {de, yéi} wé dachx̱án.
like they are angry???, the grandchildren.
Yisikóo yanyáat [yanwáat] kaxéel'x̱ sitee tle.
You know itʼs elder trouble then. [You know itʼs trouble from the elders then.]
Yeah.
Hóoch'.
That's all.
Haa dux̱íshdin uháan tsú.
We used to get spanked too.
Yeah.
Yeedát ḵu.aa,
And now
hél ḵoostí.
it doesn't exist.
Hél ḵaa x̱'éix̱ dus.aax̱ yeedát.
Nobody listens to anybody now.
Ḵushtuyáx̱ yáx̱ haa tláa gushé?
Itʼs as if our mothers don't matter, I guess?
Ch'áakw ḵáa {woosh yéi}woosh yáa ayadunéiyin.
Long ago people used to have respect for one another.
Hél yéi at utí de.
Now it's not like that.
Nope.
Nope.
Tsu tleix̱ áyá ḵut yaa yanaxíx yá Lingít ḵustí.
And for forever, this Tlingit way of living is running astray.
Tle... chʼa g̱áa katoowa.aaḵw.
Then... We are really trying for it.
Tlax̱ a yáanáx̱ áwé.
It's too much.
Dleit ḵáa yéi niyaanáx̱ has uwa.ét [uwa.át].
Through the white peopleʼs side they go.
Aaá.
Yes.
Ách áwé haa shagóon
That's why our heritage
ḵut kei naxíx.
is getting lost.
Ch'a tlákw yéi téeyi, {áyá nóox' át} a áyá nóox'x̱ gux̱satée yáaxʼ,
It's always been like this, it will become a shell here,
haa shagóon daat ét [át].
things about our heritage.
Aaá.
Yes.
Ch'áagu ḵáawu,
Old timers,
has du jee shagóon,
their heritage,
has du shagóon daat át áwé, ch'a tlákw yaa has ayanasxíxin k'idéin yéináx̱ yoosh [woosh] een yéi jinéiyin.
their heritage, always they used to be running it well, through the way they worked together.
Tél, tél yóo koowáatʼ áwé á yóox̱ x̱'ax̱waa.áx̱ch,
I always heard it's not that unfathomable [to bring it out]
yoosh [woosh] een yéi jitooneiyí.
if we work together.
Aag̱áa shákdé haa gux̱latseen.
And then maybe we'll be strong.
Aaá.
Yes.
Yéi áwé.
That's it.
Hél x̱wateen.
I canʼt see it. [I donʼt know.]
Ayáx̱ gug̱wahéin, haa ḵusteeyí.
Thatʼs the right way for it to claim it, our way of life.
K'idéin katoo.aag̱ú,
If we try hard,
yagax̱toodláaḵ. Aaá.
we will succeed. Yes.
Yéi áwé ax̱ tootée nooch.
That's how I always feel.
Yagax̱toodláaḵw; hél ḵut kei kg̱waxéex,
We will succeed; it won't get lost,
aaá, yá haa léelk'u hás ḵusteeyí.
yes, our grandparents' way of living.
Ách áwé a daa yéi jix̱ané, x̱át tsú.
That's why I'm working on it, me too.
Haa tláa hás, has du éet ḵadasheeyít
So I can help our mothers.
Ḵa yá, G̱uneiwtí,
Also, G̱uneiwtí [Marsha Hotch],
du éex̱ x̱wadasheeyí,
when I help her,
yáa ḵaa éet latóowu haa neilx'.
the teacher at our home.
Áa has du éex̱ x̱adashee.
I regularly help them there.
Áyá,
So,
yéi s daayax̱aḵá nooch, hél ḵut kei kg̱waxeex,
I tell them it will not be lost,
haa Lingít ḵusteeyí.
our Tlingit way of living.
Hél ḵut kei kg̱waxeex.
It will not be lost.
Ax̱ éesh yéi a x̱'ayaḵáayin,
This is what my father used to say,
«Ḵushtuyáx̱ wáa sá teeyí, ús'aa,
“It doesn't matter what it is, soap,
sh daa yoo keedahéigi,
you rub on yourself,
ch'u Lingítx̱ i gux̱satée.
you'll still be Tlingit.
Hél aax̱ gag̱ee.óos'i á.» [At shooḵ]
Itʼs not something you will wash off.” [Laughter]
Yéi á haa daayaḵáayin.
That's what he used to tell us.
Hél aax̱ gag̱ee.óos'i Lingítx̱ sateeyí. Mhm.
You're not going to wash off being a Tlingit. Yes.[Agreement]
Du tuwáa sigóo gí dleit ḵáa wusteeyí. [At shooḵ}
He wanted to be a white person, didnʼt he. [Laughter]
Yoo x̱ʼadul.átgi áyá haa daayaḵáayin, «Át yisa.áx̱.
When people are talking, he used to say, “Listen.
Át yisa.áx̱.»
Listen.”
Yeedát ḵwá áwé,
And now, however,
daaḵw.aa ús.aa sé [sá] yéi g̱ax̱toosáa,
whichever soap we will call it,
yéi gax̱too.oo,
we're going to put on, [use]
yá dleit ḵáa haa daadáx̱ gax̱du.óos'i aa. [At shooḵ]
the white man will wash it off of us. [Laughter]
Yéi áwé.
That's it.
Yee toowú klatseen!
You all be spiritually strong!
Yee toowú klatseen; aag̱áa áwé,
You all be spiritually strong; and then,
aag̱áa yagax̱toodláaḵ.
and then, we will succeed.
{Woosh} Woosh jín yei gax̱toosháat.
We will hold each other's hands.
A géide gax̱too.áat yáa dleit ḵáa ḵusteeyí,
We'll go against it, the white man's way of living,
Lingítx̱ haa sateeyí.
us being Tlingit.
Woosh tin yéi jitudaneiyí yagax̱toodláaḵ, yéi áyá ax̱ tutée nooch.
I always feel like if we're working together, we will succeed.
Hóoch' áyá tle yoo x̱'atánk.
This is it in talking now. [on this subject]
Kát shoowaxíx yáat.
It's all used up here.
Ḵʼateil.???
[This] container.???
Há. Yeewháan á wéide.
Well. Towards you guys.
X̱at x̱ʼawdixwétl.
My mouth is tired.
[At shooḵ]
[Laughter]
Yeah, that's what my dad used to always say to me. Yeh. Doesn't matter how much soap you use, youʼre not going to {wa} wash off the Indian in you.
You got the windows open, still it's warm in here, huh? Mhm.
Yeah. Heʼs got one window open.
You got two of 'em open. Aaa.
Oh.
It's the heat coming in, too, from outside.
Yeah. Thereʼs no
wind. There's no wind. So, the more windows you open the more heat you let in.
Long as it's not freezing cold air!
Well, and this way, thatʼs why, yeah.
It's the air flowing. Yeah.
That's because of the sounds from out there. I can do a check to see if it really bothers it. Picks it up.
Haat x̱aatéen, aadé yóo x̱oox̱ ḵwa á kát x̱at seiwax'áḵw dei. [At shooḵ]
I can see, among the back and forth, ??? however, I forgot it now. [Laughter]
Tliyéix' yéi yee natí! [At shooḵ]
You guys be quiet! [Laughter]
Sh eelk'átl'!
Be quiet!
Gwál a shoowú.
Maybe half of it.
Gunalchéesh.
Thank you.
Can't put a fan on either, huh? It would be loud in here.
Really, yeah.
Aaá. Yeah.
Yes. Yeah.
Well, that way you can't tell if we make a mistake or not!
We can let it go for a little while.
Yeah. Get some of the warm air out.
Yées daséikw.
Fresh air.
Ok, so I opened the other door.
Oh, I can feel a breeze. Yeah, I opened the other door, so you should feel it, start feeling something.
But he's got the fan on, too. That's going to be too loud.
Yeah, we'll just have it go for a minute, yeah, get some fresh air.
Clear the air.
Three minutes.
Maybe it could work.
I can hear it over here, and I'm hard of hearing.
Yeah.
Yeah, {I} I'm kind of hard of hearing too. Yeah. I got hearing aid but I don't use it!
Mine's in a drawer at home!
Too loud, too too loud. I went back there two times to turn the volume down? And it's still too loud. So I'm gonna have to take it back there again.
[Referring to the hearing aid place in Whitehorse]
Hearing aids makes you more deaf, because theyʼre too loud.
Yeah. That's why I don't use it.
Every time I put mine on, I always tell my kids, "Now you can't talk behind me!" [At shooḵ] "I can hear you!"
One time I was out there hunting, at that Skagway road. Fall time, in September. It was up in the mountain sides there. I hear bull moose talking way across the valley, [at shooḵ] with my hearing aids. Them guys they can't hear it. They thought I was just, they thought I was telling, tell them a fib. "You don't hear moose over there do you?" I said, "Yeah I am; heʼs still talking. A bull moose. "Wu, wu," [ḴNJ makes two grunts like a bull moose]. I don't know how long after then finally one of them hear it! [At shooḵ] And then they listen really good, then they could hear.
[Laughter] “Wu, wu” [ḴNJ makes two grunts like a bull moose].
Yeah!
"I thought itʼs been talking there for an hour now!" [At shooḵ] "You hear it with that hearing aid?" I tell them, "Oh, yeah! I could hear good with that."
[Laughter]
It seem like weʼve been here two hours. Itʼs only been what, forty-five minutes?
Aaá.
Should be thirty dollars a minute, it would be all right.
Ha.é!
Goodness!
[At shooḵ]
[Laughter]
Huh, sit here all day! [At shooḵ]
[Laughter]
[At shooḵ] X̱waanook, x̱át! [At shooḵ]
[Laughter] I sat down, me! [Laughter]
He's done talking and record, play the recording over.
At x̱oodéi yéi áwé.
Through it, thatʼs it.
A x̱oodé yoo x̱'atángi ch'as yáaxʼ yéi kḵwanóok. You didnʼt sit enough. [At shooḵ]
Iʼll sit here with the language. [You didnʼt sit enough.] [Laughter}
Xwéi!
Whew!
[Yawn]
One of the things that we've kind of talked about, talking about, was the weather. And I've always wondered is, is there a way that we can come up with a way to call "vapor" or "evaporation". You know because in school, we have to teach kids about the water and how it flows through the world, and, that whole process of water.
{Haa woonei}Yéi haa woonei, x̱á.
That happened to us, you see.
You got to be a professor to talk about that!
Yeah.
Haaw. How you, what? You don't.
Well. How you, what? You donʼt.
I never heard it in Lingít.
No. X̱át tsú. No.
No. Me too. No.
I wouldn't know how to start.
It doesn't tie into anything that we do. Like if it was maybe for, ah, cooking food, that steam? That might. You know?
Oh, yeah. Like steam, yeah.
I imagine they talked about the weather, you know. Oh yeah. But I never, I never learned it.
They aam, theyʼre doing something wrong. Out there in the universe they done something wrong. Theyʼre doing something wrong, they still doing it. A long time ago, the old people used to say, when we was kids, my uncles used to say, "When nature set the woods on fire, that's for a reason."
Yeah.
That's for a reason. They let it, they let it burn. Now, just when this fire start, they put it out, bombing with them water bomb[ers], put it out. And some of the old people, some of them say when that, you know, forest fire, has smoke, they do something, to help the universe. It was long time ago we used to have forest fires here all the time. And the weather stays, what, 50 below, 40 below, 60 below all winter. Don't have that no more, because ozone layer, I guess, burning out, getting holes in it or something. Too much exhaust smoke, maybe. Not enough wood smoke. Exhaust smoke would burn it, but wood smoke might help it. But the wrong kind of smoke go up there, you know up in the, where the ozone layer is, mmhm, maybe they cause some of this. Carbon dioxide. Mmhm. No word for that. That's why itʼs so warm now.
Long time ago, {not} not too long ago, my uncle, my uncle, he kinda figured this thing out. One of my uncles. He knows over this big mountain over here, a big valley up there, it used to be full of snow all summer, right? Mmhm. And he see that thing was going lower and lower and lower summer by summer, eh? And he said, ah, I think this world is turning warm, he said. You got that snow it's starting to melt away. Pretty soon, he says, there's gonna be nothing there. See? There's nothing there now. Now this is only about 30 years ago heʼs saying that. He's passed on, but he was saying that, "It's gonna get warm." I guess he knows all these mountains. Thereʼs a lot of these mountains they used to have snow on them all summer.
Mmhm.
[Agreement]
But, not no more. All I can say for global warming is, there's no more, no more permafrost in the Mother Earth. So if it rains, all the water just go Mother Earth, absorbs it right now, because there's no permafrost, nothing to hold the water back. No rain on the Mother Earth. And no rain, no berries, no snow. Long time ago we have deep snow here. Now we don't have that snow any more. It's all, {all human ac} human activity. It's turn this world around us. They just can't leave well enough alone. Some of the old people say, "They go up to the moon. They not supposed to go up to the moon. What they go up there for?"
They want to meet Lingít.
[At shooḵ]
[Laughter]
They want to meet Lingít!
[At shooḵ]
[Laughter]
Just tell them theyʼre coming to Carcross!
I wonder why they want to go to the moon meet Lingít, with lots of Lingít right here! [At shooḵ] This is where they should meet Lingít.
[Laughter]
Well, maybe they are looking for that cow that jumped over the moon. [At shooḵ]
[Laughter]
Yaa ndaḵín, shákdéi. [At shooḵ]
It's flying, maybe. [Laughter]
Yaa ndaḵín dzísk'w,
Flying moose,
wasóos.
cow.
Yaa ndaḵín wasóos kwshé yéi gax̱toosáa "penguin." [At shooḵ]
A flying cow, maybe we'll name it “penguin.” [Laughter]
Penguin ḵu.aa héen táak yaa ndaḵín. [At shooḵ]
Penguins though, are flying through water. [Laughter]
Kei ḵunat'áa yá Lingít'aaní. Yeah. Mmhm.
Itʼs getting warmer, this world.
And then now all our trees are drying up.
Yeah. Everything.
And theyʼre all full of bugs, eh? Really bad.
You know what happened, there's no water.
Yeah.
Thatʼs why. Itʼs too much. {They got} They got some kinda, I don't know, maybe some kind of a. You know one thing, {one} one old man, one old white man down Whitehorse, down Lake Labarge [Laberge]. He live down Lake Labarge. He say, "I used to eat ducks all the time," he say. "But now," he said, "I'm scared to eat ducks." I told him, "Why you scared to eat ducks anyway?" "Them wild ducks," he say, "I'm scared to eat them." "Well," he say, "I don't know what I might be dealing with because," he say, "if them ducks is dying off," he say, "what's killing them?"
[Lake Laberge]
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
He said, "Maybe they flying through that carbon dioxide going through all them cities," he said, "and that's what's killing them." And he said, "{Iʼm} Now I'm scared to eat ducks." See how he had it all figured, that old man? He's ninety years old, he figured that out.
Well, yeah. He figured it out.
Yeah! Mmhm. "What's killing them ducks," he says, "is been gone."
My sister was away, working {in them} in a store and they had a meat cutter in there. He was cutting meat and he come in early one morning and he telling my sister, "Hey, what are you guys gonna do, you Indians gonna do when you run out of beef? You gonna starve to death!" My sister told him, "You don't worry about us, you worry about yourself, you're the one that's gonna starve! We live off {the}off the land."
[At shooḵ]
[Laughter]
That's right, hey.
Yeah!
We can get all the fish we want to.
Yeah.
Well, we used to get all the fish we want. Now they got regulations. You gotta get, in Haines you gotta get a permit to go fishing.
Oh Yeah!
They told us we can't gaff fish anymore, either. But you read in the law book it says Native People have all the right to.
Yeah.
They still have it up here.
Yeah.
We have it here, we still could.
Down Klukshu we used to gaff fish down there in that river. And big grizzly bear down just a little ways, and they fishing too. He catching fish too. They don't mind, they don't pay attention to us. We there, am.
He's busy doing his own thing.
Yeah. Mmhm. They know weʼre fishing. They don't bother us, he donʼt bother us. He look, he look at us once in a while and then he "chooo", he jump in the water again.
Plus, with a gaff you can select which fish, ákwé? You can go after a certain one that you want.
[is that right?]
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, back in our, my old days, when I was growing up, my dad used to go across and get maybe ten, twelve, fish and come home.
Mmhmm.
{Never} Never catch more than he needed. Now, you put a net in the water, you get sixty fish at one time. What are you gonna do with it?
Another thing too, long time ago when, ah, well, Norman, he say it the same thing. If his dad or his, somebody set net? The whole village get fish.
Yeah.
Yeah. Give everybody fish.
Yeah.
Somebody kill a moose,
everybody get, get meat.
Oh, yeah.
Divide it all up. Not any more.
Not any more is right.
People kill moose? You don't hear nothing about it.
Heck, yeah.
{Next} next week after that somebody else go hunt moose.
Yeah.
More moose meat coming to them. Get more moose. Yeah.
{How} How do you say that in Lingít?
With they, go and set a net and they get a bunch of fish, they divide it amongst everyone.
G̱eiwú yéi has anasneech.
They'd always set their nets.
Aadáx̱ áwé, ts'ootaat,
After that, in the morning,
shayadihéin has anasg̱eiwúch.
they'd always net a lot of fish.
Aag̱áa áwé Lingít x̱oodé {has ana-}
And then, among the people they,
has anal.átch.
they'd take it to them.
Tle x̱áat jiḵoox̱.
Then sharing the fish. [Then taking it to share or contribute.] [Dagé making a hand gesture with both hands for this.]
Ch'a ldakát,
All [of it],
haa jeedé yéi daaduné wé x̱áat.
the fish is given out to all of us.
Ḵa wé dzísk'w tsú, dzísk'w áwé
And the moose too, moose
wudujaag̱í,
when they kill it,
ch'a ldakát Lingít
every person
x̱oox̱ jee een {du}
among them,
has du jeedé yéi daaduné,
it is given to them,
ch'a ldakát.
all.
Yáa... táakw yaa ḵunahéini,
This... when winter is coming,
yáa Carcross,
this Carcross,
woosh, yáat'aa,
together, this thing,
aadé yéi has gug̱atée yé táakw niyís, ch'a ldakát.
that's the way they'll be, preparing for winter, everything [everyone].
Tlél aa sá yáaxʼ yéi tée neech.
Nobody is always here.
Ch'a ldakát {haat} has du tl'átgi kaadéi ana.átch,
Everybody is going to their land [their trapline areas],
g̱aatáa een.
with traps.
Aadáx̱ áwé has gug̱a.aadí, ch'a ldakát,
When they left, all of them,
woosh áwé anáx̱ ana.átch.
they'd gather together through there.
Ha, dus.éeych woosh x̱'éidáx̱ at dux̱á.
Well, they'd cook and eat together.
Aadáx̱ áwéis,
From there,
táakw shuwuxeexí,
when winter is over,
ḵutaan naa.át??? yé
summer clothes??? place
yeisú {haa} haadé ana.átch ch'a ldakát yá Carcross-dé.
then everyone all comes here to Carcross.
Ch'a ldakát woosh yáat yéi teeyí, {tsu yéi} tsu yéi ch'a ldakát at dus.ée neech.
When everyone is back here, then everyone always cooks.
Woosh x̱'éide at dux̱á.
They eat together.
Sagú een. Mmhm.
With happiness. [Agreement]
Yeedát ḵu.aa tél yéi utí.
Now it's not that way.
Dax̱ has shig̱eiḵ yeedát.
They're stingy [in sharing] now.
Ayáx̱ ákwé?
Is that right?
Ḵaaklig̱éi?
Norman?
Aaa.
Yes.
Húch á awsikóo.
He's the one that knows. [gesturing towards Norman]
Yeedát ḵu.aa chʼas yóo dleit ḵáa áwé daa s yawsitáḵ. [At shooḵ]
Now though they take care of just those white people. [Laughter]
Uháan ḵu.aa áwé a kát has seiwax'áḵw.
Us, however, they have forgotten us.
Haa sháade héni áwé,yaatʼaa.
Our leader, that one.
Yéi áwé, áwé yéi áwé s x̱aatéen.
That is how I see them.
Self government.
Tlél ultseen wé self government. [At shooḵ]
Itʼs weak, that self-government. [Laughter]
Dziyáak,
A little while ago,
dziyáak yagiyee, ax̱ een,
a few days ago,
kayineegí {ah}
you told me {ah}
{am} atk'átsk'u kei neewaadí, {aam}
how, when you're a child growing up,
at shooḵ,
laughter,
at shooḵ yoo x̱'atángi yáx̱,
laughter was like language,
woosh x̱oo {yoo x̱'adu- ya-} yoo x̱'awdudli.átk.
people talking amongst each other.
When we were over in that other room? Remember what you said to me? Something, how they used to joke around with each other. Oh.
Oh, woosh yoo x̱'atángi tóonáx̱ áwé ch'a tlákw has at shooḵ neejín. Aaa.
They always used to be laughing while speaking together. [Together through the language, they always used to be laughing.] Yes.
Ḵushtuyáx̱ gootʼé sé, [gootʼá sá]
It doesn't matter where,
yoosh [woosh] heináx̱ has wu.aadí,
together through this place theyʼre going,
tle at shooḵ déi át yéi yee teex̱.??? [At shooḵ]
then laughter now, thatʼs the way you are.??? [Laughter]
Yéi áwé s x̱'ax̱a.áx̱jin,
That's what I always used to hear them say,
áaa, yep,
yes, yep,
yéi x̱at kusigéink'i.
when I was little.
Aa, ch'a tlákw tsú has {yoo x̱'at-}
Yes, they always
ch'as yoo x̱'atángi tin áwé, tin shákdéi,
just with language, with it perhaps,
yaa has ayanasxíxin has du shagóon daadé.
they used to run it according to their heritage.
Has du yoo x̱'atángi tóonáx̱,
Through their language,
shákdé, {k'idéin yei s at ya- a} k'idéin yéi [nax̱as-]
probably, really well
has adaanéiyin has du dachx̱ánx'i,
they used to make it, for their grandchildren,
has du dei ya.áak.
a trail, a place for them. [a place set aside for them].
Yóo {tl-} naaliyéi has du ya.áak.
Their place set aside for them, some distance away.
Ḵa has du yoo x̱'atángi tóonáx̱ tsús shákdé
And through their language too, probably,
naaliyéi has ayatéen,
they can see a far away place, [a place some distance away]
has du shukwaadé.
ahead of them.
Yeedát ḵu.aa áwé,
Although now,
tlél has du lú yáanáx̱ has ayatéen. [At shooḵ]
they can't see beyond their noses. [Laughter]
Hél dáanaa i jee yéi uteeyí... {He don't see} He donʼt see much past the third part of his nose. [At shooḵ]
If you donʼt have money...[Laughter]
Hél dáanaa i jee yéi uteeyí, hél aadé i éet g̱atudisheeyi yé yeedát.
If you don't have money, there's no way we can help you now.
Aaá.
Yes.
Ch'áagu ḵáawu woosh éet dasheeyin, x̱á.
The old timers used to help each other, see.
Yeah.
Hél yéi utí de.
It's not that way now.
No.
Tléik'.
No.
Tlél dáanaanáx̱ kei kʼéiyi kʼéiyi. I jeetx̱ x̱á yagax̱dutée.
It wonʼt get better through money. They'll take it away from you, you see.
Hél ḵaa éede gax̱dushee.
They're not going to help anyone.
Tánk', gwál has du een kananeek x'wán wé at shooḵ
Smitty, maybe tell them that funny
yoo x̱'atángi, Midori aayí.[at shooḵ]
language, Midori's own. [Midoriʼs joke.] [laughter]
Yea, I forgot all {ab} of how it went!
Gwál tléik'. Nope.
Maybe not. Nope.
That's another good story.
[At shooḵ] A kát [yaa] x̱at sanax'áḵw.
[Laughter] I am forgetting it.
We will have to have her tell it. [at shooḵ]
[laughter]
They sure did joke around with each other, huh. Aaá.
Yes.
Nora áwé, du éek', Johnny yoo dusáagun.
Nora, her brother, his name was Johnny.
«Ch'a daa sá,
Whatever,
ch'a daa sá haa x̱oox' yéi yatee,»
whatever is among us,
{ax̱ een kaw-} ax̱ een akaawaneek,
he told me,
«I léelk'w! I léelk'w áwé!
“Your grandparent! That's your grandparent!
Wé gúxʼaa áwé i léelk'w yankáx'! [at shooḵ]
That cup, itʼs really your grandparents.
I léelk'w, i léelk'w, i léelk'w, i léelk'w, i léelk'w, i léelk'w, i léelk'w.
Your grandparent, your grandparent, your grandparent, your grandparent, your grandparent, your grandparent, your grandparent. your grandpa,.
How many generations back!» [at shooḵ]
[laughter]
Ḵúnáx̱ áwé wutulishooḵ.
We really made him laugh.
Ḵoowak'ít'.
They picked berries.
Aaá.
Yes.
Gwál Costco-dáx̱ shákdé,
Maybe from Costco, perhaps,
{ḵoowakʼéetʼ} ḵoowak'ít'.
they picked them.
Ná! Déi yakʼéi ákyé?
Here! Itʼs good now, isnʼt it.
Yix̱á!
Eat it! [You all eat it!]
Góok, at yix̱á déi!
Go ahead and eat now!
Tlákw áyá at x̱ax̱á.
I'm always eating.
Ji! Ch'a aa tlákw áwé jeewanei á.
Gee. Sheʼs always working there.
Haa x̱'éix̱ at dutee tlákw. Máayatee yéixʼ yigoodí tlél at gag̱eex̱aa. [at shooḵ]
They always give us lots of food. Sometimes where you go, you won't eat. [laughter]
[Yan x̱at] Yan yaa x̱at nalnétl. [at shooḵ]
I'm getting fat. [Laughter]
Hél g̱unéi kg̱eegoot.
You won't start walking.
Yáat'aa áyá, kuḵax̱áa ḵu.a.
This one, I will eat though.
I'm running out of gas, partner!
Okay!
{Iʼm not} I'm not tired but I'm running out of things to talk about.
They talk about that flood, remember that long time ago flood? Around here? You have, ah. You could tell about that, say, that thing?
Oh, yeah. That water line. Aaá. You can see the water line right around.
Yeah.
You could talk about that. You could tell him, that story. That would be an awesome thing to have recorded.
Wáa sá??? tʼáakdei áyá. Eeḵ.
What side is it on? ??? The shore.
Right now? Okay. Mmhm.
Lis'é!
Wait!
We used to shovel out that lagoon, they were hand shovel. Lingít x̱'éináx̱! Just to go skating, just to go skating. Hah.
In Lingít!
A saayí gé ḵudzitee "ice skating", Lingít x̱'éináx̱?
Does the name for “ice skating” exist in Tlingit?
Tléik'.
No.
Tlél x̱wasakú.
I don't know.
Haaw, tsú tlél x̱wasakú.
Well, I don't know either.
Yeah, I was thinking about that.
Long time ago, ch'áagudáx̱,
from long ago,
the old people. They would have figured out, they would have been manufacturing all this kind of stuff here, like, you know. All this new machinery. They were manufacturing names for everything. Spoon, knife...everything. And I'm sure of our ancestors, eighty, hundred years ago, they would have figured out a name for that helicopter now!
Oh, yeah!
See? Now we don't do that. Weʼre too busy fooling around with white people and self government! And where everything come right to a stop. Nothing. Self government. I pretty near cry when I hear that self government, when they signed it. Because I know what was going to happen. This is it. Me, I would have tell the government, you clean up all the contamination sites before I sign land claims. If it take you 10,000 years to clean it up. That's what I would have told them. Mmhm. They running across, they running across Indian land right across there, end of that bridge, it all Native land. And theyʼre driving across there, theyʼre not getting no royalty, nothing for it.
We did for a while. I don't know what happen at the end. {I donʼt} I don't hear no more about it.
Well, {they got} theyʼre getting it maybe for themselves.
I ask about it, different times. I donʼt, I never get an answer. I told them, I say I'm still waiting for an answer.
These Eldersʼ Council, letʼs ask about it. Letʼs all ask. We have this Elders Council this time. You know, when I think about it, if we had ah, if we had some kind of eldersʼ gathering, I think we, we might make a difference, we might make a move. Right now weʼre at a stand still. But they can't get, if we can get all fourteen First Nations, together, working together, all fourteen First Nations people, I think we could pick up this building and pack it over there 400 feet and set it down there. That's how much power there is,
mmhm,
they should have.
Right.
That's how much power they should have. That's if all fourteen First Nations people working together. But theyʼre all individual, and the government make boundary lines between them and everything. {We lost} {We lost} We lost everything, we lost, what little we lost, we lost, that's lots. Come look at it. Come look at it right way.
No, haa yoo x̱'atángi, daa yoo x̱'atángi, thereʼs no end to it.
No, our language, about language, thereʼs no end to it.
Yeah.
No end to it. {Itʼs} It's there.
I'm intrigued by what you said, that they would come up with names for things. Bicycle.
Yeah.
Automobile.
Yeah.
Couch.
Everything, they would have names by it now, by now. But ah, we don't practice it. We don't, what we don't have is a discussion. Thatʼs we don't have. Mmhm. A discussion, should be able to find out just about anything we want to know. Because thereʼs somebody {in that, in} in that twenty people crowd, theyʼs gonna know something. Or mention something and then they all just have a discussion on it. They gonna find out what it is! They gonna find out what they call it. They gonna find out the background and everything. Mmhm.
They'll describe it, huh?
Yeah.
Yeah. So how could we describe a helicopter? Ha.é!
[mild surprise]
Oh, ah. [at shooḵ] Me, I would name it, I would name it after mallard duck.
[laughter]
Aaá.
Kindachooneit.
Mallard duck.
Oh, yeah.
Mmm.
You know how mallard duck take off, straight up?
Mmhm.
That's the same way that helicopter. That's what I would name it.
Mmhm.
How about skidoo?
Skidoo?
Dleit káxʼ.
On snow.
Dleit káa, ká át nashxíxch.
It runs around on snow.
It run around on top of the snow. That sound good? Mmhm. For skidoo?
I don't know. I know that skidoo too, my uncle. I want to say something about that skidoo. Must be about, well letʼs see, maybe about seventy years. Seventy years ago. You see that caterpillar hauling freight to Atlin. You know the way the tracks running on that caterpillar? {He} He figures that he could makes, he could make smaller machine out of that thing with that tracks running like that and make it go.
Mhm.
You see what he was thinking about. I was just wondering how he was thinking. It would work under the same principle as that tracks turning on that caterpillar, pulling them sleighs.
Mmhm.
And he, he said, he could make smaller machine out of that. And they run around faster through the woods, through the woods and everything. He had that all figured out. It must be about thirty-five, forty years after that, skidoo come out.
Mm.
And then he tell me, heʼs. That's my uncle, you know Uncle Joe? "You see," he said, "that's the one I was talking about, talking to you about." "That's the one right there, that machine," he said. "I see that," he said, "in my, in my dream."
Mm.
See? He see that in his vision. You see? I think our ancestors was using mostly, all these kind of things you know,{is, is, is} is come out. And the way they were working together all the time, discussion. And their language, that's why theyʼre so sensitive with everything. The language is sensitive, in other words. It still is. And they were using that for manufacturing too, I guess. But we, we have,now we have the language but we don't have no manufacturing. Like I said about that helicopter a little while ago. I'm trying to figure out penguin, you see.
Mmhm.
And it didn't take you long to say, "What they call it?" You see, I asked, this, this little, and us little discussion we had here today, thatʼs just small, little. Yeah. But that's lots, just that one word. What you said about that penguin.