ET - Two hunters and the cedar sea lion
Well, I’m going to leave it on that sea lion, then.
kwus wulh yuthusthus thunu sts’a’muqw ’i’ ni’ tl’uw’ nulhtul ’al’ ’u tthunu si’lu, mens kw’unu men.
What my great-grandmother told me was identical to my grandfather’s, my father’s father.
ni’ tsu(n) ts’elhum’ut tthu s’ul’eluhw—tthey’ shes sus ’uw’ ’uy’eey’.
I heard from the old people about what they did to the sea lions.
nilh ’uw’... nilh ’uw’ yathulh ’uw’ xut’ust-hwus lhew’lhne’num’, lhew’lhne’num’ tthey’ shes.
That’s what they always called harvesting [from the sea] the sealion.
sus ’uw’ ts’e’ts’ulitul’ ’u kwus m’i wil’ yath nuw’ netulh ’i’ m’i wi’wul’ thu shes.
They scrambled for it, and it was early in the morning when the sea lion would show up.
sus nem’ ’uw’...
And they went...
’i’ yey’sul’u tthey’ qw’uqw’itul’ yath ’uw’ stsuw’et kws mut’els, mat’utum.
And there were these two related young men that were very clever at spearing [sea lion].
sus ’uw’ kwunnuhwus, xwum kws kwunnuhws.
They speared them and got them; they were easy to catch.
sus ’uw’ sxitth’ul ’u tthu mustimuhw, xtth’ulmutum tthuw’ne’ullh kwus yath ’uw’ kwan’nuhwus.
And some of the other people got jealous of them, envying them because they were always catching them.
nan ’uw’ stsuluw’et kws mut’elsth.
They were very adept at spearing.
sus ’uw’ qwiil’qwul’tul’ naanum’.
And these people started discussing.
’i’ nan ’uw’ stsuw’et hwq’ilus tthu xpey’ kw’s thuy’tewut tthu ni’ hunum’ust-hwus ’u suw’ they’ suy’wiin’ ’uw’ shtatul’stuhw they’, thuytum hwu mustimuhw.
And cedar is very talented at absorbing and being made into things by means of using the word power from the one who knew how to use it to make things into a living being.
mukw’ stem ’uw’ ’un’ sle’t tthu xpey’.
You can do anything with the cedar.
’i’ m’uw’ hulithut kw’us stsuw’et p’e’ u tthun’ sxuy’us ’uw’ shtatul’stuhw tthey’ sqwal.
And you can make it come alive if you have a good head and know the words used.
sus ’uw’ thuytum…
And so it was fixed up.
ooo, nuw’ tl’lim’ ’uw’ sht’uqw’ule’ts ’al’, thuytum tthu xpey’.
Ooo, they would split apart the cedar, fixed up the cedar.
’uw’ thu’it kwus yu t’ut’e’tum’ yu nuts’nuts’tum’.
And it’s true, they could attempt different transformations.
’i’ ni’ tus ’u tthu xpey’ ’i’ m’i thuythut.
And when it got to the cedar, it came to life.
hay kwu’elh tthu shts’ulhwiwuns hay sme’mul’qst-hwun’ ’uw’ stemus, tthu ni’ shts’ulhwiwunstewut kwus wulh m’i thuynum, tthu pqway’.
For its organs, I forget whatever it was, they made organs by using the punkwood.
’i’ ’uwu te’ nu shtatul’stuhw ’uw’ stemus tthu ni’ q’uq’i’s, ni’ tl’uw’ nets’ kwthu ni’ q’uq’i’stewut.
I can’t remember what was used for the intestines, what they changed to make intestines.
sus ’uw’ nem’ ’u tthey’ smeent, kw’un’t’als, kw’un’t’als.
And then they took that rock, kw’un’t’als [black basalt rock], kw’un’t’als.
sus ’uw’... yelh sus ’uw’ hulithut.
And it was brought to life.
ni’ tl’uw’ phwels ’al’ st’e’ ’u tthu... ni’ sht’es tthu shes... sus ’uw’ thuytum
And it started to spray water just like a sea lion, and they had it all prepared.
netulh nuw’ shtatul’stum ’uw’ niis kw’in ’i’ m’i ’utl’qul tthuw’ne'ullh swaaw’lus qw’uqw’i’tul’.
In the morning, they knew what time those related young men would come out.
heey’, ni’ wulh wil’ ni’ wulh ni’ kwthu s’eluhw, kwthu ni’ shtatul’stuhw kwus hulit, sus ’uw’ hilitum, tsyuwun.
Yeah, and when they appeared, there was already an old man [by the seashore] that knew how to bring it [the cedar] to life, and he brought it to life with a word power song.
niilh ’uw’ hunum’ustum’ thu syuwuns, ni’ ts’elhum’utun’ulh ’u kwthu s’ul’eluhw.
And he got that word power song going, I did hear that from the old people,
’i’ nan ’uw’ t-sas tthunu sxuy’us.
And my head is so pitiful [I can’t remember].
sus ’uw’ thuyt tsyuwun, tsya.a.awun tthu s’eluhw ’i’ ni’ wulh nem’... phwels, phwels.
And this old man started to sing this song [to the cedar that was prepared], and it started spraying water.
he.e.e’ ni’ wulh lumnuhwus tthey’ qw’uqw’i’tul sus ’uw’ nem’ taal.
And the two young men saw it and started going out from the shore.
’uw’ yu.... yath ’uw’ ’i’tth’um’ ’u tthu swuqw’a’lh—taal wulh nem’.
They were always clothed in mountain goat wool blankets—they went travelling out from the shore, and it was quite friendly and easy to catch.
inaudible, nan ’uw’ qw’aqw’ul, tl’lim’ ’uw’ qw’aqw’ul’ ’i’ xwum kwus kwunnuhwus.
And it was quite friendly and easy to catch.
sus ’uw’... wulh nilh ’al’ sus ’uw’ huya’stum.
Suddenly, they were being taken away.
ni’ tshuy’wunulh tthey’ s’eluhw, tswe’ ’u tthu xpey’.
And the old man [on the shore] kept chanting to that cedar of his.
ni.i.iw’ huya’stum, huya’stum, huya’stum, xut’ustum’ lhuw’stum, lhuw’stum.
And it took them away, away, away, what’s called running away with them.
ni’ wulh tul’nuhwus tthuw’ne'ullh qw’uqw’i’tul’...ni’ wulh nem’ shqwilustum ’u kw’u’i thi qa’ ’uw’ niis hwtsel.
And then those related boys realized...they were being taken across the water, out into the ocean, going they didn’t know where.
kwunus ts’its’elhum’utulh tthu s’ul’eluhw.
That’s what I heard from the old people.
’i’ nuw’ t-hwkw’a’usum ’al’ tthuw’ne’ullh, nuw’ t-hwluxwuthut ’al’ ’u tthu swuqw’a’lhs
And finally, they just held up their heads and covered themselves up with their mountain goat wool blankets.
ni’ wulh tsyuwun tthu sa’suqwt tsyuwun, tsyuwun, tsyuwun, st’e ’u kw’u ni’ ’uw’ hunum’ust-hwus.
And the younger brother started to sing his spirit song, over and over, just sending out the words.
nem’ shaqwul, suw’ tiqw’ ’u tthey’ thi.i.i smeent.
They went across, and they crashed into a big boulder.
ni’ tsun mel’qt kw’ s-hun’ute’wut tthey’... skwa’luhw.
I forgot what that was called... skwa’luhw [a place name].
tiqw’, sus nem’ ’uw’ nuqum.
They crashed, and it [that thing] dove down.
nuw’ ni’ kwthu ni’ sqwalstuhws kwus wulh m’i me’shus tthey’ ni’ shmat’utewut
There were certain words that were used in order to be able to pull the spears off.
ni’ pasutum tthuw’ne’ullh sus ’uw’ yu qwaqwul’, “ni’ tseep tshuw’a’lum’.”
When the spears were thrown back to them, that thing was saying to them,“You were being made fun of.”
sus muw’ pasutum.
So, they [the spears] were thrown back.
’i’ nuw’ ’eey’ tshuy’wun’ tthey’ sa’suqwt
And the younger brother was still singing.
“ni’ tseep tshuw’a’lum’; ’uwu tsu[n] shesun’.”
“You were being made fun of; I am not a sea lion.”
sus ’uw’ pasutum, suw’ kwunnuhwus tthuw’ne’ullh.
And they were thrown back at them, and they got them.
sus nem’ ’uw’ ’ushul, ’ushul, ’ushul ’uwu te’ shtatul’stuhws ’uw’ hwtselus.
And they paddled, and they didn’t know where they were going to go.
’i’ ni’ tus ’u kwthey’, suw’ hunum’ust-hwus [’u tthu] mustimuhw, qwi’stey’muhw
And they reached that place where there were little people, dwarfs.
sus ’uw’ ni’ mumun’lh mustimuhw, ’ele’hwi.i.in’ tthu thathuns.
And all those little people had really small mouths.
qux ma’uqw.
And there were many ducks around.
“q’aayt tseep kwu’elh, q’aayt!”
[And they said,] “Kill them, kill them!”
nilh ni’ sqwumey’s thu ’es-hw, ’es-hw, nilh ni sqwumey’s thu ’es-hw tthuw’ne’ullh.
And these little people had seals as their dogs.
suw’ q’aq’i’utus tthuw’ne’ullh thu ’es-hw nilh ni’ s’i’lhtuns, ’i’ tthu ma’uqw, tthuw’ne’ullh mulstimuhw, tthey’ qw’uqw’i’tul.
And they would kill the seal for their food, and the ducks, those people, the related boys.
si’si’me’tum ’i’ … sus ’uw’ kwun’etus tthuw’ne’ullh, kw’uy’utum.
[The little people] were afraid of the [two young men], but they had them, blocked them from leaving.
’i’ niw’ thu’it ’uw’ st’e kwus q’putus kwey’ stl’pelqun’, kwus wulh qul’et nem’ lhew’ nem’ kwunutum tthu snuhwulhs nem’ taxwutum.
And they did gather up feathers, because their canoe was taken away and stashed at another location.
ne.e.em’ huye’st-hwus, sus m’uw’ huye’ nem’ lhew’ xwchenum xwte’ ’u thu smeent xwte’ ’u thu smeent kwus xwan’chunum’.
And then they ran away, fleeing to the mountain; toward the mountains, they were running.
’i’ nuw’ tus ’al’ ’u tthey’ ni’ kwu’elh xut’ust-hwus tth’amuqw’us, tth’amuqw’us kwthu thi.i.i mustimuhw.
They reached where the Big Foot, tth’amuqw’us, was... a big person.
nilh ni’ hiin’a’nuts’a’—xut’ustum’ nilh ni’ sta’lusth thu shhwuy’tuns.
He was all alone—it is said that that Sasquatch’s wife is the bed pan sh-hwuy’tuns.
ha’ nem’ ’uw’ huye’ tthu tth’amuqw’us ’i’ ’uw’ hay tthey’ shhwahwi’tun’s shhwhuy’tuns sun’iw’, ni’!
When Big Foot left, he left the bed pan behind inside.
’i’ ha’ nem’ huye’ tthuw’ne'ullh thut kws nem’s tl’iw’ ’i’ ni.i.i wulh kwetsum tthey’.
And when the two young men started to run away, the bed pan would scream.
’i’ ni’ tl’e’ wulh nem’ tus hun’umut tthu tth’amuqw’us ’i’ tl’e’ wulh nem’ kwunutum
And Big Foot would return and make sure they were brought back.
’i’ ni’ kwus... kwus wulh tl’uw’namut.
And when the time came, they managed to run away.
niis ts’twa’ kwu’elh...nilh ni’ shni’s ’i’ ni’ tsun sme’mul’qstuhw kwus wulh tl’uw’namut kwey’ kwus xut’ustum kwus wulh nem’ huye’ taal.
And I forgot the name of the place where they ran away, and how that went when they managed to run away, going out to sea.
’a, ni’ yuqwtus tthuw’ne’ullh nu sht’eewun’ tthu shhwuy’tuns, ’i’ ’uwu kwsus tl’e’ ts’elhum kwus wulh huliye’.
Oh, they burned the bedpan, I think, and that way she can’t be heard when they ran away.
sus ’uw’ huye’namut ni’ wulh nem’ shtl’uw’namut-s kwus wulh yuqwtum, yuqwtus tthuw’ne’ullh.
Big Foot was gone, and that is when they managed to run away, after they burnt [the bed pan].
suw’... hay kwu’elh ’uwu te’ ni’ nu shtatul’stuhw kwthu ni’ ts’twa’ nem’ shhw’aalhs kwus ts’twa’ wulh nem’ huye’, ’u shus yu papusptum’ ’u tthu thqet.
I don’t know how they got away or what they got away on, because Big Foot was throwing trees at them.
It’s the end, that’s just all I know, little of that one. I’m just skipping to...