digyun do'n

right here

hay hun'

this river

nilin

flows by

This river flows by right here.

'ehs

fish-dam

na:ne'e'a'-ne'in

it used to go across

q'ut dahungwho'-dun'-din

from the beginning of time

digyung

[here]

'ehs

fish-dam

na:ne'e'a'

it is supposed to be [going across]

hayah

there

ma:

for it

wilchwe:n

it is made

ya'de'ine'

they always said

haya:ł

[and then]

A fish dam used to go across, from the beginning of time, this is where the fish dam is supposed to be. That place is made for the fish dam, they used to say. And then ...

wun-na:ya'udil

they work on it

xowh do'n

[I guess]

diq'a:n

up in the hills

'aht'in-din

everywhere

They go work on it all over up in the hills (gathering materials for the dam).

haya:ł

[and then]

ya'ne'iłxiwh

they haul it down

hay 'ehs

the fish-dam

silin'-te:

what will become

haya:ł

[and then]

Then they haul it down, that which is going to become the fish dam.

nikya:w

a long one

q'ina'

[also]

dahya'k'e'iłwul

they fell it

xowh do'n

[I guess]

'isking

fir tree

hay

[that]

ma:

for it

na:niwing'a'-te:

it's going to reach across

Then they also had to fell a really long fir tree that can reach across the river (as the backbone of the fish-dam).

haya:ł

[and then]

hayi 'aht'in

everything

digyun

[here]

ya'ne'iliwh

they bring it

haya:ł

and then

ya'ułme'n

they start building it

Then they bring everything there, and then they start building it.

xone:ji xehstung-xw

waist-deep

'unt'e:

it would be

The water would be clear up to your waist.

'aht'in

all

yo:w

[there]

tehya'iye'n

they stand

hayi mił

[with it]

yineh

into the ground

ya'ke'iłq'a:s

they pounded them

haya:ł hay whichwo:-ne'in

that used-to-be my grandmother

whe:

me

simiwhGiy'ts-dung'

when I was little

haya:ł

[then]

'a'de'ine'

she'd always say

keh ya:xone:dil'ing'

let's go watch them

They all stand there in the water and then they pounded them (the stakes) into the ground with it (a mallet). My late grandmother, when I was young (would say) "Let's go look at it."

haya:ł

and then

digyung

to this place

ne'e:dil

we always came

nikya:w

big

k'isxun-ne'in

a tree used to be

digyung

right here

haya:ł

[and then]

And then we always came to this place, there used to be a big tree here.

hayah

there

xahxe'eh

shade

me'

in it

ya:'ude'e:tł'

we sit

ya:xone'idil'e'n

we watched them

hay 'ehs

the fish-dam

ya:'ułchwe:

[they build it]

We used to sit there in the shade and we watched the people building the fish dam.

Okay,

a

long

time

ago

on

this

river

here,

they

used

to

always

make

a

fish

dam

here.

It

was

kind

of

like

a

tradition

I

guess,

they

put

the

salmon

dam

in

one

place.

And

so

it

would

have

kind

of

like

a

mesh

thing

they

would

weave

that

closed

it

off

whenever

they

wanted

to.

Well,

certain

time,

they

would

open

that

up

and

it

would

stay

open

where

the

salmon

go

through.

So

many

days,

or

whatever,

they

would

close

it

off,

depending

on

how

big

a

salmon

run

there

is.

And

you

can

actually

see

the

salmons'

tails

sticking

out

of

the

water

when

they're

swimming

around

in

there.

Then

everybody

would

know

about

it,

so

people

from

down

the

valley,

everywhere,

would

come

here.

And

then

they

would

have

so

many

nets,

really

long

net,

and

they

put

it

in

the

canoe.

They

paddle

out

in

a

half-circle

way

out

there

around

it.

And

then

there

would

be

two

rows

of

people,

a

lot

of

people

standing

out

there

waiting

for

the...

one

side

they're

holding

it,

and

when

the

boat

comes

in

they

grab

the

rope

and

then

they

start

pulling,

and

you

can

just

see

all

the

salmon

all

flipping

around

in

the

net

as

they

start

to

pull

it

up

to

the

shore.

And

then

there

were

probably

about

a

hundred

salmon

in

there,

'cause

the

net

was

really

long.

And

maybe

only

sixty,

I

don't

know.

Some

of

them

are

big

salmon,

some

smaller.

Then

they

start

grabbing

the

salmon

and

lay

them

out

there,

it

was

a

big

sand

bar

there.

And

so

they

would

have

maybe

two

rows

of

salmon

laid

out

there.

And

then

the

people

would

be

standing

there

waiting,

and

so

then

they

divided

up

and

each

family,

depending

on

how

much

salmon

they

caught,

each

family

would

get

so

many

salmon,

that's

their

quota

for

the

time.

And

so

my

great-uncle

Abraham

would

be

down

there,

and

so

he

would

get

some

for

us,

my

grandma

and

I.

So

we

would

walk

back

to

the

house.

We

would

be

sitting

here

under

the

big

tree

that

was

here

and

watching

them.

So

we

bought...

walked

back

to

the

house,

and

pretty

soon

here

he

come,

he'd

bring

us

our

share

of

salmon,

so

we

start

filleting

the

salmon,

my

grandma

would

fillet

it

flat,

and

then

hang

it

all

up

in

the

smokehouse,

start

smoking

it,

so

that's

how

we

had

our

smoked

salmon.

And

that

was

back

in

nineteen

forty

something.