Bill Survives a Longshoring Accident kwunus hwun’a ’ul’ nem’ yaays, ni’ ’u tu longshoring, When I was first working at longshoring, qux mustimuhw wulh s’ul’eluhw ni’ wulh ’ikw’ ’u tun’a kweyul. that’s the day that there were a lot of Elders who had already passed away. ’uw’ hay tuw’ s’aa’lh thathun hul’q’umi’num’ ha’kwushus. It was our own Hul’q’umi’num’ language that

Reading the Weather (Hul’q’umi’num’ starts at 1:22) kw’unus hwun’ hunum’ulh ’u kw’u’i tuyt, seine boat, When I was going fishing up north on a seiner, wulh nem’ tst yu shahwuqwul’, nem’ ’utl’ Haida. and we were crossing over, going to Haida. ’i’ ’uy’ilum, ’uy’ skweyul ’i’ xut’ustam’shus tunu qequnuts, It was a calm beautiful day and our skipper told us,

A story by Bill Seward, Snuneymuxw First Nations, Nanaimo, British Columbia. Recorded by Chris Bouris. Thanks to Chris Bouris, Sean Milliken, and Zoey Peterson for video and post-production. For the Hul’q’umi’num’ version of this story, please go to: 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

Kw’aan’t’ | Blackfish Warning tthu kw’aan’t’ About the blackfish (dophin, porposie). xut’ustam’shus’ulh kw’unu s’ul’eluhw, I was told by the Elders, ’uwu ch tum’temuhw ’i’ he’kwul’usht tey’ kw’aan’t’. “Don’t ever be shooting those blackfish. nilh sul’e ’utl’ lhnimulh, tu qwunus, q’ullhanumutsun. They belong with us, the whales, and the orcas. ’uwu ch tum’temuhw ’i’ he’kwul’usht Don’t ever be shooting them tul’li’