Section 7.5 Hul'q'umi'num' - KW'I'KW'USHNUTS 'I' TU S'ELUHW THI SXT'EKW'
Written by: Veselin Jungic and Mark MacLean Illustrated by: Bethani L'Heureux Hul'q'umi'num' translation by: Delores Louie (Swustanulwut)
kw’i’kw’ushnuts tunu skwish. ’i’ yath tsun ’uw’ ni’ ’u tu tiya’hween. tu sht’un’aalhtuns ’i’ nilh tu sxt’ekw’ qwiil’qwul’ ’u tu ni’ ’u tu sqwul’qwul’.
My name is Small Number. And I am a young boy who gets into a lot of mischief. For my people, making totems poles is our way of telling and remembering stories.
tun’a sqwul’qwul’ ’i’ nilh kwu’elh tun’ni’ ’u kwthey’ s’eluhw sxt’ekw’. ’i’ nilh tu syuw’en’tstulh nilh ni’ thuyt tun’a sxt’ekw’, stutes ’u tu hulelum’s. ’i’ nan ’uw’ wulh hith kwus tun’ni’ ’u kwthu syuw’en’tst.
This is the story of the old totem pole. Built by my ancestors on a beach close to my village. that has been shared for many generations now.
nuts’a’ skweyul ’i’ wulh sew’q’ tu yuxwule’ ’u kw’ s’ulhtuns. hwun’ xut’u ’i’ wulh lumnuhwus tu hay ’ul’ thi stseelhtun ’uw’ tuw’ yu tsitsulh ni’ ’u tu qa’. sus nem’ ’uw’ lhakw’ tuw’nilh yuxwule’ ’i’ nilh tu sxun’us ni’ shkwunut-s tu stseelhtun. ’i’ nilh kwus nan ’uw’ thi tu stseelhtun, ha’ se’tus ’i’ ’uw’ ’uhwiin’ ’ul’ kwus m’i sen’hwus.
One day the eagle was looking for food. He spotted a huge salmon, just below the surface of the water. He plummeted to the river and caught the salmon with his mighty talons. But, the salmon was so big that even eagle’s strong wings could only lift the salmon just a bit above the surface of the water.
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ptem’: nutsim’ ’a’lu ’u shus tsts’ets’uw’te’num’ tu yuxwule’, ’i’ spaal’, ’i’ tu spe’uth, ’i’ tu stqeeye’ ’i’ tu squl’ew’? nutsim’ ’a’lu ’u shus tsts’ets’uw’te’num’ ’u tu wuxus kws m’is hwkw’astum tu stseelhtun ’ewustum ’u tu tsuw’mun?
Question: Why did the eagle, the raven, the bear, the wolf, and the beaver need help? Why did they need help from the frog to pull the salmon on to the shore?
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