Rocks at the White Deerskin Dance Site
told by Verdena Parker
July 23, 2011
Xowung-q'it dance site, Hoopa Valley, California
Transcribed by Lindsey Newbold
- hayah
- there
- ch'ide'ilye'-mił
- [when] they have the White Deerskin Dance
- haya:ł
- [then]
- hayah
- [there]
- miq'it
- on them
- no:ya'undil
- they always sit
- hay ya'kiwi'a:l
- the ones who are singing
- haya:ł
- [and then]
- niwhong-xw
- good
- haya:ł
- and then
- hay ya'k'iwi'a:l
- the people that are singing
- miq'it
- on it
- no:na:ya'ndil
- they sit back down
- haya:ł
- [and then]
- k'iye:
- again
- na:na:ya:'ułto'n
- they dance again
- haya:ł
- [and then]
- ch'inłah
- they ran out*
- dungwho'owh
- somebody
- ch'itehłkyo:t-e:-xola:n
- they stole it
*This verb typically means 'to run out' in the sense of motion out of an enclosed space. Here it may be modeled on the English idiom 'run out' meaning 'used up'.
- haya:ł
- [and then]
- xoh
- in vain
- xa:ya'niwinte'
- they were searching
- haya:ł
- [and then]
- dungwho'
- [someone (?)]*
- dahungwho'owh
- [that much?]
*This word was not translated by Verdena Parker when the transcription was being checked. If it is transcribed correctly, it would mean 'someone', which does not otherwise fit the meaning of the sentence; it may be a false start (where she started to say something else, then changed her mind).
- Well,
- in
- this
- place,
- here's
- where
- they
- perform
- the
- White
- Deerskin
- Dance.
- And
- ever
- since
- way
- long
- time
- before
- even
- I
- was
- born,
- those
- rocks
- have
- been
- there,
- and
- every
- time
- they
- have
- a
- White
- Deerskin
- Dance
- the
- singers
- always
- sit
- down
- on
- those
- rocks
- when
- they
- kind
- of
- take
- a
- few
- minutes
- off
- and
- they're
- dancing,
- then
- they
- get
- up
- and
- start
- dancing
- again.
- But
- they've
- been
- there
- for
- such
- a
- long,
- long
- time,
- that
- it's
- kind
- of
- part
- of
- the
- terrain
- here,
- I
- guess
- you
- might
- say.
- And
- then
- back
- about
- 1950,
- I
- didn't
- say
- that
- in
- Indian,
- but
- about
- that
- time
- somebody
- stole
- a
- couple
- of
- those
- rocks,
- they
- were
- missing.
- So
- the
- next
- time
- they
- were
- having
- a
- dance,
- they
- said
- there
- isn't
- enough
- rocks,
- so
- they
- kind
- of
- searched
- around
- people's
- yards
- and
- couldn't
- find
- it.
- And
- so
- they
- had
- to
- go
- and
- get
- new
- rocks
- to
- replace
- these
- that
- were
- there,
- so
- I
- guess
- they
- don't
- bother
- it,
- it
- appears
- that
- there
- are
- all
- these
- rocks
- sitting
- over
- there,
- so
- I
- guess
- nobody
- bothers
- it
- anymore.