Hupa Language Online

HSAC-12

Grandfather's Ordeal
told by Minnie Reeves
1963
Hoopa Valley, California
Transcribed by Victor Golla

de:t 'ung'
here it is

xwe:lik -te:
I tell - (future)

hay
how

dahungwho'-dung'
a long time ago

hay
the

whichwiwe:-ne'en
my (maternal) grandfather - (past) (= now dead)

xoq'it-dahna:diwing'a'
on him - it came to stick out on top. (= he was shot)

Now I will tell about how, a long time ago, my late grandfather (my mother's father) got shot.

xwunchwing*
his mother

diwinch'a:t
got sick.

His mother got sick.

*Pronounced {xunchwing} on the tape.

'a:ya'de:ne'
they said

xoh
in vain

k'ite:t'aw
the Indian doctors

xwaydiwing'a'
(who) doctored her

daw -tehł*
no - (future)!

The Indian doctors who were treating her said, "She won't pull through!"

*That is, "She won't pull through; there is no future for her".

xonchwit
fetch the one

na:tini-xw
in Hoopa Valley

ts'isday
(who) lives,

niwho:n
good

k'ite:t'aw
Indian doctor

'a:'unt'e:
she is that kind.

"Go fetch the Indian doctor who lives in Hoopa Valley, she's a good kind of doctor."

hay -tah
this (doctor) (is) among those

gya'ay
maybe

xoch'o'we:ne'-te:
(who) can help her - (future).

"She might be able to help her."

haya:ł
then

q'ut
at once

hay
the

whichwiwe:-ne'en
my grandfather - (past)

xoxe' mił
his feet - with (= on foot)

ch'itehsyay
he set out,

de:-xo -tah
here (in the valley)

xohch'iwinyay -e:y
he came down off the ridge here

na:tini-xw
(to) Hoopa.

My late grandfather immediately set off on foot and came down here to Hoopa.

haya:ł
then

q'ut
immediately

na'tehsde:tł'
they started back.

Then he and the Indian doctor started back.

hay -yo:w
that

k'ite:t'aw
Indian doctor

q'ay'timił
pack basket

ch'itehswe:n
she carried,

diywho'
some things

me'
in which

no'nilay
she had put.

haya:ł
then

hay
my

whichwiwe:-ne'en
grandfather - (past)

q'ina'
also

xehł
a pack

k'itehswe:n
he carried.

She carried a pack basket in which she had put some things, and my late grandfather also carried a pack.

q'ut
now

na'tehsde:tł'
they went back.

So they set off back.

yo:w
off there

qos -ding*
at Qosding

yima:n
across

ta:na'winde:tł'
they waded across.

They waded across Pine Creek up there at Qosding.

*A camping place beyond Bald Hill, near Pince Creek. Literally "soaproot ({qos}) place".

k'iya:wh nondił -ding*
[place name]

na'widil -e:y
they went along there,

diq'a:n
the ridge

na:yide'
back downstream.

At K'iyawh-nondiłding they went in the downstream direction along the ridge.

*A camping place on Redwood Ridge, literally "birds ({k'iya:wh}) alight ({nondił}) place".

haya:ł
then

q'ut
as soon as

yitsing'
downhill

xoda:na'winde:tł'
they started down

mił
when,

hay
my

whichwiwe:-ne'en
grandfather - (past)

na'te:ng'e'n
looked back.

Then, as soon as they began to descend the slope, my late grandfather looked back.

de:di
here

'ungya'
he glimpsed

łing'-q'it
horses on

yima:n'dil
White men

ch'idindil-e:y
coming there.

He saw some White men there, coming along on horseback.

haya:ł
then

hay -yo:w
those (Whites)

ya'xołtsa:n
saw them,

ts'iłting'
rifles

xoch'ing'
at them

ya:ya'wił'e:tł'-e:y
they pointed them there.

The Whites had seen them and were pointing their rifles at them.

xoh
in vain

whichwiwe:-ne'en
my grandfather - (past)

ya'k'ilay
raised his hands

xola'
-- his hands

ya'wilay
he raised them --

hay -heh
that even so

q'ut
now ( = despite this)*

ch'ixo:ya:ning'its
they shot at them.

My late grandfather tried to raise his hands - raising them right up - but even so they shot at them.

*Early settlers told the Indians to raise their hands at the approach of a White, to signal that they were not hostile. Otherwise they were liable to be shot.

hay -yo:w
that

k'ite:t'aw
Indian doctor

ch'ixowiłtehł -ne'en
(who) he was taking - (past),

hay
she

xoq'it-dahna:diwing'a'
got shot,

na'wilts'it
she fell down.

The Indian doctor he was taking got shot and fell.

haya:ł
then

hay whichwiwe:-ne'en
my grandfather - (past)

hay -de:
here

xongkine'
his back,

ła'a:y-xw
suddenly

hay
it (the shot)

wa'k'ining'its
it went right through

xongking'
his back,

yide:we:na'n
he was wounded.

Here on my late grandfather's back--suddenly a bullet went right through his back, wounding him.

haya:ł
then

xoqe:kin'
his legs

nondimil
got caught in something,

'isqo:ts'
berry

mitł'ow'
vines,

na'wilts'it
he fell down.

His legs got caught in some berry vines and he fell down.

haya:ł
then

hay -ye:w
those

yima:n'dil
White men

'a:ya:ch'ondehsne'
thought,

q'ut -'ung'-xw
so it is that way

xosehsdilwe:n
we have killed them

nahnine:
both

q'ut
now

ya'widil -e:
they went on there

yide'
downstream.

The Whites thought, "Well--we've killed them both," and went on downstream.

haya:ł
then

whichwiwe:-ne'en
my grandfather - (past)

na'tehłduqol
crawled along back.

My late grandfather crawled back up the trail.

mina'wilawh
he remembered

hay
that

xo'ji
real, Indian

xontah
house

sa'a:n
stood there,

k'ila:dosch'e'
bark

xontah
house

sa'a:n*
stood there.

He remembered that there was an Indian house there, a bark shelter.

*A "bark house" was a temporary shelter at an acorn-gathering camp.

yiwidingit
after a while

hayah
there

na:'ulduqol
he got there by crawling,

yehna'wilduqol
he crawled in.

After a while he reached it and crawled inside.

haya:ł
then

xoje:y'-'e:nde'n
his mind - vanished ( = he fainted),

hayah
there

ch'iwehswa:tł'
he fell (in a heap).

Then he fainted, and collapsed.

haya:ł
then

hay -ye:w
those

xontah -ding
(who were) at home,

xoje:y'-na:ya:nt'a'n
their minds - flinched (= they got worried).

Meanwhile, the people at home got worried.

da'n -ding
long before now

na:'undetł'
they have come back

ming'i-ne:
it should have been

ya:ch'ondehsne'
they thought,

xo:'
something

xowh gya'
possibly

'a:ya'k'idilaw
has happened to them.

"They should have gotten back long before now", they thought. "Perhaps something has happend to them."

keh
why don't

after them

xoxa:na:nohte:
after them - you go search!

"Somebody should go look for them!"

haya:ł
then

q'ut
right away

ya'tehsde:tł'
they went off,

xoxa:na:ya'nite:
after them - they searched

So a party went off to search for them.

hay
the

xontah
house --

xo'ji
Indian

xontah
house --

sa'a:n
(where) it stood,

k'ila:dosch'e'
bark

mił
(built) with

sa'a:n
(where) it stood,

hayah
there

ya'ninde:tł'-hit
they arrived - when,

'ungya'
they saw

de:
here

xontah
house

me'
in

na'silwa:tł'
he was still lying there (in a heap).

When they got to where the Indian house was--the house made of bark--they saw him lying collapsed inside.

dahungwho'-dung'
some time before

xowh
they guessed

xo:'-'a:'udyaw*
he had died.

They thought he had been dead for some time.

*Literally, "something ({xo:'} or {duxo:'}) happened". Death is nearly always referred to with a euphemism.

haya:ł
then

q'ut
right away

k'ila:dosch'e'
(a piece of bark)

ne:s
long

ya:ya'wintung -hit
they picked up - and

hay
this

miq'it
on it

dahna:ya'xołte:n
they laid him on top,

na:ya'xotehs'un -te:
they carry him back - (future)

xontah -ch'ing'
home to.

So they picked up a long piece of bark (from the shelter) and laid him on it to carry him back home.

hay
this

ya:na:ya'xołte:n
they picked up

mił
when,

'ina:'usła:t
he jumped up.

As they picked him up, he leapt up.

mikyow'
grizzly bear

łuqay
white

xoq'it
on him

dahwilto'n*
had jumped on top.

(In his coma he had seen a vision of a white grizzly bear, jumping on him.)

*He had been in a deep coma, near death, but suddenly he saw a vision of a white grizzly bear, pouncing on him and tearing his infected wound open. He would not have been saved in this way, Minnie says, if he hadn't trained for power, good luck and long life.