Yinuqi-ts'isday (He-Lives-South)
told by Emma Lewis
December, 1901
Hoopa Valley, California
Transcribed by Pliny Earle Goddard
Source: Hupa Texts (UCPAAE vol. 1, no. 2), p. 157
- niłchwingq'a'ding
- At Niłchwingq'a'ding*
- na[']tehłdichwe:n
- there grew
- k'ehłtsa:n
- a maiden.
At Orleans Bar there lived a maiden.
*At Orleans Bar.
- chwich
- Wood
- wung-na[']wa:-wint'e:
- she always went after.
- xutł'e'-dung'
- In the morning
- chwich
- Wood
- ch'iniwiwh-wint'e:
- she always brought,
She always brought wood for her fire in the morning before breakfast.
- na[']k'ite'itł'o:wh
- She always made baskets.
The rest of the day she used to spend making baskets.
- ła'
- One
- xutł'e'-dung'
- morning
- ch'itehsyay
- she started out.
- kiyiq'ut
- In a hollow tree
- 'ungya'
- she heard
- na:ts'eh
- rolling around
- mije'e:din
- a baby.
One morning when she was after wood she heard a baby rolling about in a hollow tree.
- xa:t'
- Yet
- 'ungya'
- she saw
- mits'e:q'
- its umbilical cord
- miky'a:nt'iky'
- was hanging
- do:-heh chwich ch'ischwe'n
- She did not make wood.
- mije'e:din
- baby
- wha:ne:
- only
- ya[']wiłting-hit
- when she had picked up
- na[']tehłdida:wh
- she ran back.
Without stopping to gather the wood for which she had come, she took the baby and carried it home.
- haya:ł
- And
- tehch'iwing'a:n*
- in water - she put it.
She decided to throw it into the river.
*Compare Life and Culture of Hupa, p. 52.
- q'ut-dzi-mił
- Pretty soon
- kile:xich
- boy
- ts'isle'n
- he became.
- na:'isya'
- He walked around.
Soon the boy was large enough to run about.
- haya:ł
- And
- ts'iłting'
- bow
- xwa:
- for him
- ch'ischwe'n
- she made.
- haya:ł
- And
- hay
- that
- chwich
- wood
- wung-na[']wa:-ne'in
- going after used to
- do: ch'o:wila'n
- she quit.
- haya:ł
- And
- diywho'
- something
- xontah
- house
- me:q'
- in
- xwa:
- for him
- no'iliwh
- she put
- hay
- that
- yo:'e'its
- he shot at.
She made a bow for him and put up a mark in the house for him to shoot at. She did not go for wood as she had formerly done.
- do: ch'e[']na:wh
- He never went out.
- no:na:'itse'
- Door she shut
- wha:ne:
- always,
- xa'ułkyow
- that much
She kept the door shut and never allowed the boy to go out for fear she should lose him.
- ch'ite'ina:wh
- she went out
- no:na:'itse'
- she shut the door
- nikyah-xw
- hard.
Whenever she was obliged to go out she closed the door with great care.
- yiwiding-hit
- Finally
- xo'ch
- quite
- ch'iwingkya:w
- he became a big boy.
After a time he became a good-sized boy.
- na:'ilit-ding
- Na:'ilit-ding*
- 'e'n
- there was
- ła'
- one
- tehłchwe:n
- grew
- k'ehłtsa:n
- a maiden.
- xwe:yixo'iya'n
- She suspected her
- hay
- that
- do: ch'e[']ningyay
- she never went out.
At a village below Orleans there lived another maiden, who noticed that her neighbor did not go out as she had been in the habit of doing and suspected there must be some cause for it.
*A village below Orleans.
- mine:jixomił
- After a time
- chwich
- wood
- mixa:
- after
- ch'itehsyay-e:
- she went.
- haya:ł
- And
- na:'ilit-ding
- the Na:'ilit-ding
- k'ehłtsa:n
- maiden
- ch'iningyay
- came there.
- haya:ł
- And
- min'day'
- outside
- no'ina:wh
- she stopped.
One day when the foster mother was gone after wood this girl came and sat down by the house to watch.
- haya:ł
- And
- ch'inehł'e'n
- she looked.
Soon she saw a straw fall and stick up in the ground like an arrow.
- haya:ł
- And
- wut-ch'ixowilya'n
- she watched for it.
- haya:ł
- And
- 'ungya'
- she saw
- k'iye:
- again
- xa:k'ing'its
- it shoot up
- min'-tsida'-q'eh
- out of the smoke hole.
Watching carefully she saw another one come out of the smoke-hole.
- haya:ł
- And
- k'e:'isła:t
- she ran up
- xontah
- house
- haya:ł
- And
- me'-ch'ing'
- inside
- ch'ite:ng'e'n
- she looked.
Running up on the roof of the house she looked in.
- sa:k'iding-'ungya'
- She was surprised to see
- kile:xich
- a boy
- na[']way-e:
- walking around.
She was surprised to see a boy inside.
- haya:ł
- And
- na[']te:tse:
- she opened the door.
- haya:ł
- And
- ya[']wiłte:n
- she picked up
- hay
- that
- kile:xich
- boy.
- haya:ł
- And
- mił
- with it
- dahna[']diwilła:t
- she ran.
- ch'itehłte:n
- She took it along.
She opened the door, picked him up, and ran away with him.
- na:'ilit-ding
- Na'ilit-ding
- na:'ndiyay-e:
- she got back.
- haya:ł
- And
- ch'e[']ninta:n
- she took out.
- haya:ł
- And
- ta'na:n
- water
- me:q'
- inside
- k'ite:yo:wh
- to flow
- ch'ischwe'n
- she made.
- ch'ite:yo:s
- she stretched it.
- me'dil
- [Full-sized] canoe
- sile'n*
- it became.
When she got back to her own house she took a little canoe out of the house, put water in it, and stretched it until it became a full-sized canoe.
*Compare p. 137, 1. 17.
- hayahujit
- And then
- je:lo'ch
- a small djelo
- wha:ne:
- only
- ya[']wingxa:n
- she picked up.
She also took from the house a small storage basket which contained her treasures.
- hayahujit
- And then
- me'dil
- canoe
- yehch'iwinde:tł'
- they went in.
- haya:ł
- And
- xoda:dqe:t
- they came down.
- no[']xoniłte:n
- she put
- hay
- that
- kile:xich
- boy.
Placing the boy in the stern of the boat she started down the river.
- q'ut-dzi-mił
- Soon
- łe:na:lding
- Weitchpec
- ch'indiqe:t-e:
- they came down to.
- yiwiding-hit
- At last
- miq'eh-na:diwul-ding
- the mouth of the Klamath (they came to.)
They went on down past Weitchpec until they came to the mouth of the Klamath.
- haya:ł
- And
- na:'ndiyay
- she came back
- niłchwingq'a'ding
- the Niłchwin'aq'i-ding
- k'ehłtsa:n
- girl.
- sa:k'iding
- She saw
- no:na:witse:
- the door was shut.
When the foster mother came back she saw that the door was not just as she had left it.
- sa:k'iding
- She saw
- do:-xole:n-e:
- was gone
- hay
- that
- kile:xich
- boy.
She went in and found the boy was gone.
- 'unłung-xwe:-ding
- Everywhere
- xoh
- in vain
- ch'inehł'e'n
- she looked for him.
- xoxa'
- his tracks.
- do: ch'iłtsa:n
- She could not find
- xoxa'
- his track.
She looked for him everywhere but could not even find his tracks.
- 'unłung-xwe:-ding
- Everywhere
- ninis'a:n
- mountain
- -q'it
- on
- xoh
- in vain
- xa:'usyay
- she went up.
She searched for him in the neighboring mountains in vain.
- whiwung
- from me
- dahch'ixodiłte:n
- she has taken him away,"
- ch'ondehsne'
- she thought.
"Somebody has taken him away from me," she thought.
- me'ist
- pestle
- wha:ne:
- only
- ya[']winta:n
- she picked up.
- k'it'o:q'it
- (A mountain)*
- yiduq
- up
- xa:'usyay
- she went.
Taking her stone pestle with her she climbed the mountain on the south side of the river.
*It is said the ocean can be seen from this mountain which is opposite Orleans.
- hayahujit
- And then
- ch'ite:ng'e'n
- she looked.
- sa:k'iding
- She was surprised
- 'ungya'
- to see
- to:
- ocean
- q'it
- on
- yinuq
- south
- widqe:l-e:
- boat going along.
From its top she saw with surprise a boat going along on the ocean toward the south.
- haya:ł
- And
- 'a:ch'ondehsne'
- she thought,
- xosiwhwe'
- "Let me kill him."
- hayahujit
- And then
- hay
- that
- me'ist
- pestle
- mił
- with
- ch'o:xoniłxits'
- she threw after him.
"I am going to kill him," she thought, and threw the pestle at him with all her might.
- k'ise:qot*
- A K'ise:qot
- 'e:ng'
- it was
- xoch'ing'
- for him
- ch'e[']ning'a:n
- she had taken out
- hay
- that
- je:lo'
- djelo:
- me'
- in
- mił
- from.
- hayahujit
- And then
- xoq'it
- on him
- no[']ning'a:n
- she had put it.
The girl had taken a head-dress from the storage basket and put it on the boy.
*Compare Life and Culture of Hupa, p. 84 and Pl. 7.
- haya:ł
- And
- hay
- that
- k'ise:qot
- kiseaqo:t
- milay'-e:
- its end
- ch'idiwiłwa:tł'-e:
- she knocked off.
The pestle just hit the end of this and knocked the feathers off.
- hayah-mił
- And
- tehsde:tł'-e:
- flew away,
- to:mine:-k'iya:wh-ne'in
- waterbirds used to be.
These feathers flew away as gulls and other sea-birds.
- hay
- That
- mił
- with
- ch'o:xoniłxits'
- she threw at him
- 'e:ng'
- it is
- xa'
- there
- tehna[']diwing'a'
- in the water - stood up.
- xa:t'
- Yet
- tehna:da'a:
- in the water - it stands
- de:d
- now.
The pestle stuck up in the water and stands there yet.
- haya:ł
- And
- ya[']tehłqe:t
- they went on.
- digyung
- Here
- yinuq
- south
- ya[']niłqe:t-e:
- they got there.
- haya:ł
- And
- xowung
- from her
- dahch'ixodiłte:n-e:
- she took him away.
- yinuq
- South
- de:d
- now
- ts'isday-e:
- he lives.
They went on to the end of the world at the south where they are still living.