Eva Thomas: Berry Picking

(1) mukw’ stem lhemts’tus—stsi’yu, tsqw’iil’muhw, tstsulqama’, tsq’e’lux sqw’iil’muhw.
They picked everything—strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, black blackberries.

(2) ’uy’.
They were good.

(3) ts’ey’hwtus tthu s’ul’eluhwulh.
The elders used to dry them.

(4) They dry it.

(5) ts’ey’hwtus thu stsi’yu.
They dried the strawberries.

(6) lumnuhw na’nuts’a’ s’eluhw, wulh s’e.e.eluhw, suw’ lhumts’tus kw’am’kw’um’, suw’ ts’uy’hwtus…
I saw one elder, when they were far along, who picked them energetically and dried them…

(7) ts’a.a.ay’hwtus.
She dried a lot of them.

(8) ni’ ts’uy’hw susuw’ q’putus.
She dried what she gathered.

(9) suw’ nuw’ushum ’u thu shlumelu, suw’ yu pupun’ustum’ ’u tthu shoukwu.
She would put them in jars and sprinkle them with sugar.

(10) ni’ ’uch ’uw’ ta’ul’thut, ni’ hay ’ul’ ’uy’?
Isn’t that the way you learned it?

(11) ni.i.i ’uw’ ’uy’ ’i’ nuw’ kusmus.
They were good up until Christmas.

(12) stem kw’ qul’et stth’oom’.
That’s how it was with berry picking.

(13) ’uw’ hay.
That’s all.