Hupa Language Online

HSAC-04

A Hunting Story
told by Ned Jackson
1963
Hoopa Valley, California
Transcribed by Victor Golla

łah
Once

'aywe:
it happened

nista:n
logs

na:ya:dilxe:-ding
we were hauling - at,

yo:t
way off

yinuq -ch'ing'
upstream - towards

ya:dehsdilts'e:-ding
we were living - at,

ya:dehsdilts'e:-ne'en
we were living - (past)

hay -de:
this

hospital-ding
hospital - place

nohxontaw'
our house

sa'a:n -ne'en
lies (past)

hayah
there.

It happened once where we hauled logs, off there where we used to live upstream, at the (old) hospital -- our house used to be there.

haya:ł
Then

'a:ya:whiłch'ide:ne'
they told me,

meat
"Meat

do:-xohsle'
not - there is enough!

xwe:di-ma:n
What - for

do:
not

k'iwunay'inday
you go hunting?"

They told me, "There's no more meat! Why don't you go hunting?"

haya:ł
Then

xutł'e'-dung'-ding
morning - time

'ina:sdiqe'
I got up.

So I got up in the morning.

te:se:yay
I went off,

hayah
there

nilin -q'eh
creek - along

yima:n
across

na:ne:yay
I went over,

ta:yyay
I waded,

hay -de:di
here

Minnie Reeves
Minnie Reeves

ts'isda:-ding
she lives - where

yiduq
uphill

miwina:
around (the point)

xe'e:yay
I went on by.

I went off, crossed over the creek there -- waded across -- and went up around the point here where Minnie Reeves lives.

xa:t
Still

chwa:xołwil
it was dark.

It was still dark.

haya:ł
Then

'ungya'
I heard

k'iqots'
something making a cracking noise

na:wa:-ts'eh
going - I heard,

k'itah-xw
in the midst (of the brush)

yiduq
uphill

I heard something make a cracking noise as it moved in the brush uphill.

haya:ł
Then

'aywe:
it happened

na:se:qo'
I crouched down,

diq'a:n -q'it -ch'ing'
ridge - on - to

'ungya'
I saw

xahsya:
it (deer) went up,

hay
the

sky
sky

mich'ing'
toward it, against it

['iwhtsa:n]*
I saw

k'iłuxun
deer.

I crouched down and saw something going up the ridge; I saw a deer (silhouetted) against the sky.

*Ned's words on the tape are unclear here; the general meaning is "I saw it".

haya:ł
Then

wun-no:nehłqe:t
I aimed (my gun),

k'iwimut'
(the shot) went off,

do:
not

nawhtsa:n-e:y
I saw it again there.

I aimed my gun, the shot went off, and then I didn't see it any more.

haya:ł
Then

'ayne:se'n
I thought,

keh
"Let me

łah-xwi-hayah
anyway, just for the heck of it

xa:siwhwha'
(let me) go up!"

I thought I'd go up and take a look, just for the heck of it.

xa:se:yay
I went up

hay
the

diq'a:n -q'it -ch'ing'
ridge - on - to.

I went up the ridge.

chwa:xołwil
It was dark

xa:t
still.

It was still dark.

haya:ł
Then

'ungya'
I saw

tin -ji
a little trail

yehwing'a'
leading in

nilin -q'eh -ch'ing'
creek - along - to.

Then I saw a little trail leading off into the creek.

hay -q'eh
This - along

te:se:yay
I went off.

I went along it.

de:
Lo and behold

'ungya'
I saw

hay
the

yiduq-dimit
up-ended, on its back

k'iłuxun
deer

siłting
lying dead.

And -- lo and behold! -- there was the deer, lying on its back dead.

se:sehłwing
I had killed it

xola:n
it seemed!

It seemed I'd killed it!

haya:ł
Then

mits'ing'
its legs

yitse'n*
down

no:te:sehłt'ow
I skinned them along to there,

na:whdiwe:n
I packed it home.

I skinned down its legs and packed it home.

*Literally, "down-slope", but this refers to cutting the skin of the deer's legs from the hooves "down" to the torso. The legs are skinned first so that the loose leg skins can be tied together across the hunter's chest as he packs the deer home on his back."