snxʷmeneʔ nqʷlqʷeltn
6190 Agency Loop Road
PO Box 100
Wellpinit, WA 99040
509-258-4222
Spokane Tribe Language and Culture
hem̓is hem̓is
Morning Dove
cq̓sipiʔ kʷen̓t hi nk̓ʷeʔłxʷm łiy̓e huł hem̓is hem̓is hu n ččiy̓eʔs.
A long time ago there they had one home these two people Mourning Dove and his maternal grandmother.
łiy̓e nk̓ʷa xʷist hem̓is hem̓is
Here this one day he left did Mourning Dove
qs k̓ʷʔis čłpmi.
he was going to go hunting.
hi č̓uw, hi č̓uw, čmlk̓ʷma hi sč̓uw---
he was gone, he was gone, the whole day he was gone---
ho··y, hu heł čičš------ heʔc̓̓ščeʔ! č̓uw-l̓eʔxʷ! hecyaʕ̓ ƛ̓m̓ łuʔ hec q̓iq̓eʔy-- hi č̓uw-č̓uʔuw!
Fi--nally he got home----- what happened! the land was bare! Everyone that had their teepees there-- they were all gone!
tm̓a putiʔ ttw̓it hem̓is hem̓is-- ho···y, čtqpels, č̓upelsm, hu šey̓ sc̓qʷaqʷ-- "ha-yo, t hi sk̓ʷuy! ha-yo, t hi sk̓ʷuy!"
As you know as yet a little boy was Mourning Dove-- bo..y he became anxious, he got very lonesome, and so that's when he began to cry-- "o-oh-h, where's my mother! o-oh-h, where's my mother!"
sewn̓eʔmntm t spilye, nmeʔeneʔmntm t spilye, cuntm--- "ƛ̓emi?!"
he was heard by coyote, he got on coyote's nerves so coyote told him-- "That's enough!"
kʷentm t spilye, yoyoscut—
he was grabbed by coyote, with all his might—
hu čc̓q̓mn̓ew̓sntm n heʔc šit̓--
and he flung Mourning Dove high into a tree—
"lšeʔ, m kʷ nyaʕ̓pmist-- m pentč m ha qs čc̓qʷaqʷʔum ha skʷuy!"
"There, you shall stay forever-- you will always be heard crying this way for your mother!"
šey̓ hu hoy
That is all