Section 7.9 Wet'suwet'en - HALHT'Ï'M BÏ C'OLDIW TS'AN
Written by: Veselin Jungic and Mark MacLean Illustrated by: Bethani L'Heureux Wet'suwet'en translation by: Rita George and Gary George of the Wet'suwet'en NationA note about the recording of this story from Gary George:
“This story had a journey in the actual recording itself.
Rita George's (Gulaxkan) home is located in the Burns Lake (Tsil Kaz Koh) region of BC. Sometimes big trucks can be heard going by her home as it climbs the steep hill and this noise was interfering with the recording. So we drove down by the lake (Bin) also known as Ka Kuz Bin, near the home of the late Henry and Patrick Isaac. It was windy nïlhts'iy) and this too was affecting the sound, so we decided to drive across (nyen) the lake and onto the yinta (land), where we found a quiet spot in the forest and completed the recording. That evening we also saw a deer (niltiw') on the road and it was a beautiful (honzu') on the land.
This recording is the end result of that adventure on the land in July 2021. Thanks to modern technology (i-pad mini), and the perseverance of Rita George (who is now 82), this recording was made possible. It should be noted that similar terms are used in this Wet'suwet'en recording: Yis (wolf) or D'ikuntikh lhic (wild dog). In addition, there are variations on terms depending on location of fluent speakers. For example, the term for bald eagle in Wet'suwet'en is Sggïgit which is similar to Gitxsan term of x̱sgaak, while Wet'suwet'en speakers in eastern regions around Burns Lake, also referred to eagle as Syil-beya (Wet'suwet'en) and s̱balyan (Nadleh-Stella Whut'enne).”
See Appendix A.1 for a glossary of Wet'suwet'en words and phrases
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Si Sozï’ Halht’ï’m Bï c'oldiw di cidede’ Tso sa nawinec gwin an adec bitso’ habe nawinec Ts’an këyikh wa zuh ai een ‘ilyegh
My name is Small Number. This is a story that I’ve heard from my grandmother and that she heard from her grandmother. It is about an old totem pole built by my ancestors on a beach close to our village.
’Ëlhidzïn sggïgit yik t’alh ka c’ë’ën lhok cyo oi ya bihl Yik da lehn to guht Yik Kay yit Nadah Bilegh Bits’i yiz zï lhok tabe ‘enekh kya Sggïgit Bits’int’a’ Ti ehl tus tëkh en kya lhok ‘ene khlil
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 fish just a bit above the surface of the water.
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Sggïgit detsan, sus, lhok, D’ikuntikh lhic (Yis) tobegh Dilkw'akh
Question: Why did the eagle, the raven, the bear, the wolf, and the beaver need help from a little frog to pull the salmon on to the shore?
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