Bill Seward: House Of Thunderbird (Hul’q’umi’num’)

s-hwuhwa’us | House of Thunderbird

nilh tsun nem’ ni’ ’utl’ Rivers Inlet kwunus kw’akw’i’uthut ’u tthu stseelhtun.
I used go up to Rivers Inlet when I was fishing for salmon.

’i’ ni’ ni’ hwun’ quxulh s’ul’eluhw ni’ ’u tey’ huy’thustham’shus
And there were a lot of elders still living around there and they were telling me
suw’ ’i’wusthelum ’u tu lelum’s ’ulh thu shhwuhwa’us.
about Thunderbird’s house.

suw’ xut’u ni’ wulh qux mustimuhw nem’ lemut tey’
And they said there were a lot of people who went to see that

’i’ ’uwu kws m’is hwu’alum’.
and they never returned.

nus nuw’ ’imush nem’ tsun tsam nem’ nem’ lemut.
And I walked up the mountain and went to see it.

’i tsun m’uw’ hwu’alum’ ’i tsun m’i xunqun.
I returned, I made it back.

nilh kwu’elh shni’s’ulh tthu s-hwuhwa’us tthey’ ni’ tsun ’uw’ lumnuhw.
And it was that place where the Thunderbird was, that’s what I saw.

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A story in Hul’q’umi’num’ by Bill Seward, Snuneymuxw First Nations, Nanaimo, British Columbia.
Recorded by Chris Bouris.
Transcribed by Ruby Peter, typed by Sarah Kell, and edited and translated by Donna Gerdts.
Thanks to Chris Bouris, Sean Milliken, and Zoey Peterson for video and post-production.