MJJ-Origin of Sockeye
ni.i.i' xtsuthut thu squl’ew’.
Beaver was wondering what to do.
’uwu te’ stseelhtun ’u tun’a ’uweelh te’ulh.
There are no fish here; there never were any.
qwuqwul’tul’ thu squl’ew’ ’u tthu tth’iqt ’i’ thu chuyya’ ’i’ tthuw’ qu.u.ux sq’uq’a’s tthu qeeyux qux.
Beaver discussed this with Woodpecker and Tsuyu’ and many others.
wuqw’ilum sus ’uw’ huye.e.e’ nem’ ’ushul nem’ ’u kw’i shni’s tthu thuqi’ tthu stseelhtun ’u kw’i tuywut.
They paddled a canoe downstream to the place of the sockeye salmon up toward the north.
sis ’uw’ huye.e.e’ qux skweyul kws ’i’shul’s, suw’ tus ’u kwthey’
They continued paddling for many days, and they made it to their destination.
sus ’uw’ ni’ ’ul’ ’u tthu tsakw.
And they just kept their distance.
sus ’uw’ ne.e.em’ yu spupin’ tthuw’nilh squl’ew’.
Only Beaver went there by going underground.
stsuw’et kws nem’s punuthut ’i’ tus tse’ ’u kwthu shni’s, sis ’uw’ hwuni’.
He was very clever because he knew how to travel underground to get to that place, and he go there.
qwalhtum tthuw’nilh qwalhtum.
They were there waiting for him, waiting.
’i’ wulh lumnuhwus tthu swaaw’lus.
And he saw some young men.
wulh nilh thuqi’.
These were the Sockeye.
suw’ qw’imustewut tthuw’nilh sus ’uw’ tsumstum nuw’ushum.
They called him to disembark and they brought him up and brought him in.
suw’ qwals tthu s’eluhw, ’uwu sq’aq’i’us.
An old man said that he is not dead.
’uwu sq’aq’i’us, hwquxwilh tun’a squl’ew’.
He is not dead, and there are more of those Beaver.
’aw’thut ’e’lhu q’aayte’.
Hurry and kill him.”
’i’ ’uwu.
But no.
wulh kwi.i.intul thuw’nilh ni’ yu shiy’ast-hwus hiy'aatus.
Now, they are fighting, just like they warned her.
kwintul ni’ ’u kwu’i tsitsulh ’u thu lelum’ thuw’nilh nuw’ sq’uq’a’s.
She was fighting up at that house with her companions.
sis ’uw’ ’utl’qul tthuw’ne’ullh lemutum kwu ni’ kwikwun’tul’.
They all went outside to see who was fighting.
t-hway tthu squl’ew’ slhelhuq’.
Only Beaver was lying on the floor.
wulh tstl’umut-s tthu qeq shq’a’thun nilh sthuqi’allh.
He jumped for the baby sockeye.
sus ’uw’ punuthut tthuw’nilh si.i.is ’uw’ yu sha’nuts ’u tthu qeq.
He burrowed into the ground with the baby.
sus ’uw’ tus ’u tthu s’ulqsun suw’ ’aalh ’u tthu snuhwulh
Reaching the point, they boarded a canoe.
sus ’uw’ wulh ni.i.i’ ’uw’ xut’us tthuw’nilh s’eluhw, “’i tsun ’uw’ xut’usta’lu, hwquxwi.i.i.iilh thu squl’ew’, qux tthu shqwaluwuns.
The old man said, “I warned you that there are many Beaver with a lot of intentions.
’i’ ’uwu tseep.
But you all didn’t [heed my warning}.
ni’ wulh sqen kwthun’ qequlup ’ulh nilh squl’ew’ kwthey’.”
Now, they have stolen your baby; it’s that Beaver.”
sis m’i ’uw’ huya.a.astum tthu qeq
He’s taking the baby far, far away.
m’i ’ewustum ’u tun’a tumuhw ’uweelhte’ ’ulh stseelhtun.
They brought him to this land, where there were no salmon.
sis ’uw’ namustum ’u tnanulh sta’luw’ nem’ ’u tthu, qw’imutum tse’ tthu qeq.
They brought them into this far away river, and they took the baby off the canoe.
sus ’uw’ ’ulh hum’i.i.i tthu stseelhtun tseelqum tthuw’ sht’es tun’a ’i stseelhtun nem’ ’u tthu sta’luw’ ’u ’is kwu’elh wulh ’i tthu thuqi’, tthu kw’a’luhw, tun’a ’uw’ sht’e.e.e tun’a stseelhtun ni’ wulh ni’ ’u tthu sta’luw’.
All the fishes followed—many, many different kinds of salmon went to the river, and that’s how they came to be here, the sockeye, the dog salmon; That is how the different kinds of fish first came to the river.
nilh tthu squl’ew’ tswe’ ch qwaluwun ’i’ thu tth’iqt, ’i’ thu chuya tthuw’ mukw’.
That was Beaver’s main purpose, and Woodpecker and Tsuyu’’s idea.
nilh ni’ shtu’es kwthu yuw’e’nulh ’u shus kwu’elh wulh ’i ’u tun’a, tthu sthuqi’.
This is how our ancestors managed to bring the fish here.
nilh nuw’ sht’es ’ul’; ni’ hay.
That is all.