Ruby Peter: Autobiography / Where I Am From

tthu nu shtun’naalhtun 

Where I Am From

(1) ’een’thu sti’tum’at.
I’m Sti’tum’aat.

(2) Ruby Peter tthu [s]hwunituma’lh nu sne.
Ruby Peter is my English name.

(3) tthu nu shtun’naalhtun: hwuneem tthu nu si’lu. nilh tun’ni’ ’u kwthu hwun’a’ [wutl’utss mustimuhw].
My ancestry: My grandfather (mother’s father) Hwuneem was a descendant of first Hwuneem, one of the first people who dropped down. [8 people were dropped]

(4) ’i’ tthu nu sts’a’muqw, quyxuletse’, s’amuna’ chief.
And my great-grandfather (mother’s mother’s father) was Quyxuletse’, and he was the chief of Somenos Reserve.

(5) tthu nu shhwuw’weli – thu nu ten, qwulsimtunaat, nu men, xitsulenuhw.
My parents: my mother was Qwulsimtunaat (Cecilia Leo), and my father was Xitsulenuhw [=Kitsilano] [an earlier person with this name moved over to the mainland and married into N. Van.] (Basil Alphonse). [Father was descendant of 5th person who was dropped; that’s where he got his name]

(6) ni’ tun’ni’ ’u kwthu 1929 ’i’ ni’ hwu kwun’atul’ tthu nu shhwuw’weli.
My parents got together in about 1929.

(7) ’i 1932, ’i’ ’i tsun kwan, ’i ’utl’ kwa’mutsun, ni’ ’u kwthu December 27th, 1932.
I was born in 1932, in Quamichan, on December 27th, 1932.

(8) na’nuts’a’ tthu nu shuyulh, lhhwelu tthu nu squle’uq.
I have one older brother and three younger sisters.

(9) ’i’ mukw’ tst ’uw’ ’i ’utl’ kwa’mutsun kwsutst ts’isum.
And we all grew up in Quamichan.

(10) sht’es kwsus… shni’nuw’sta’lum ’u tthu [shhwuw’welitst].
How our parents disciplined us.

(11) ’i’ nilh thu nu ten nunuw’uy’ulh ’uw’ yath.
It was my mother that always gave the teachings, disciplined us.

(12) t’xum sil’anum ’i’ ni’ tsun skwoul, ni’ ’utl’ qw’umiy’iqun’.
And I started school at the age of 6 years old at Comiaken [one room day-school].

(13) ni’ yuhw yuse’lu sil’anum ’i’ ni’ hwi’ thuytum thu skwoulew’t-hw hwu’i ’utl’ kwa’mutsun, suw’ teyqtum tthu stl’ul’iqulh hwu’i ’utl’ St. Catherine’s.
It was after about 2 years a school was built in Quamichan, which became St. Catherine’s school, and all the day-students were moved to this school.

(14) sus ’uw’ hwu sisters tthu ni’ hw’iiw’tsustal’hw ’u tthu shwunitum’a’lh sqwal.
And it was sisters that were teachers, that taught us the English language.

(15) ’uweelhte’ ulh kw’u hwunitum’qun, ’uw’ hay tthu hwulmuhwqun, ’uw’ hay shtatul’st-hwut.
We didn’t know any English; we only knew our own language, the Hul’q’umi’num’ language.

(16) ni’ ’u kwthey’ skwoulew’t-hw ’i’ ni’ ’u kwthu ’apun ’i’ kw’ t’xum, ’i’ ni’ tsun hay, Grade 8.
I went to school at St. Catherine’s until I was 16, and that was up to Grade 8.

(17) ’apun ’i’ kw’ t’xum, ’i’ ’i tsun tsta’lus.
I was 16 when I got married.

(18) ’i’ tl’uw’ tun’ni’ ’utl’ quw’utsun’ kwthu mens tthu nu me’mun’u, tun’ni’ ’utl’ kwa’mutsun… xwulqw’selu.
The man I married was also from Cowichan, the father of my children; he’s from Koksilah.

(19) ni’ ’u kwthu 1952, ’i kwan thu nu mun’u, nu stsulilh.
It was 1952 when my daughter was born, and she was my firstborn. [stsulilh = firstborn, always considered very important. Your firstborn is always very sensitive of many things. We were always told to be careful of the firstborn.]

(20) ’i’ nilh ’uw’ sht’es kwsuw’ yu le’lum’uta’ult ’u thu nu ten yu ni’nuw’uta’lum’ ’u tthu sht’es tse’ kws le’lum’ut tst tthu me’mun’utst, sht’es tthu stsulilh, tl’uw’ tl’i’stum.
We were always lectured about how to handle our firstborn, how important a firstborn was; my mother always stayed close by, giving us advice about raising children.

(21) te’tsselu tthu nu me’mun’u: lhhwelu tthu suw’wuy’qe’, lhq’utsse’lu tthu slhunlheni’.
I had eight children: three boys and five girls.

(23) ’i’ nilh yath ’uw’ sht’es kws ’uw’ yu le’lumuthe’ult ’u tthu nu shhwuw’weli.
And my parents were always beside me, guiding us, guiding our lives.

(24) nuwuntham’shus tthu nu men ’u tthu tumuhw, nus nuw’ hwuni’ ’utl’ kwa’mutsun, ’amusthelum ’u thu li’lum’.
My father gave me/willed me land, so we moved to Quamichan, where there was a little house included.

(25) ts’ewuthelum ’u tthu luplit, thuytum thu lelum’, nilh ni’ hwu shni’tst.
And a priest came to help restore the house, and that’s where we lived.

(26) ’i’ nilh nuw’ sht’es kwsus ’uw’ hwu yaa’yusstum’ tthu nu sta’lus ’u tthu nu men, logging.
And my father put my husband to work, trained him as a logger with him, and that was the job he had.
[logging = ye’yuq’ul’s ’u tthu thuthiqut]

(27) hay ’ul’ thi smulyitul kwsutst wulh mulyitul, tth’uxwtentalum.
When we got married, we had a big wedding, a Catholic wedding, and a traditional Indian ceremony.

(28) nilh ni’ sht’es kwsus hay ’ul’ tl’i’ tthu smulyitul xwte’ ’u tthu s’ul’eluhw.
A marriage was a very important event to all the natives, especially the Elders.

(29) hay ’ulh ’ul’ qux s’ul’eluhw ni’ q’putum kwsutst wulh mulyitul (tst), ’i’ ni’ tl’eshutum tthu qux mustimuhw.
There were many Elders that came and decided to invite many people for the wedding.

(30) yath ulh ’uw’ sq’uq’ip tthu nu sul’si’lu, nu shhwum’ne’lukw’ ’uw’ yath ni’ ’utl’ lhnimulh.
My grandparents and my aunts and uncles were always coming to be with my parents.

(31) nilh tthu farmers, nilhulh kwsutst ts’its’uw’atul’ ’u tthu farm.
When they worked together on the farm.

(32) nilh ni’ yath ’uw’ sht’esulh ’u kw’un’a’ wulh hith
They always helped one another, a long time ago. [They had a company that decided what was to be bought: a thresher, a binder, a plough, a disk, equipment that was to be used to run the farm. They grew mostly vegetables, wheat, oats, and hayfield seed, I think they called it, for the cattle and horses.]

(33) quxulh ni’ sht’es tthu mustimuhw, hwulmuhw mustimuhw, ’u kw’un’a’ wulh hith.
There were many things that the people decided together a long time ago.

(34) hay ch q’a.
Thank you.

(35) ni’ hay.
The end.