snxÊ·meneÊ” nqÊ·lqÊ·eltn
6190 Agency Loop Road
PO Box 100
Wellpinit, WA 99040
509-258-4222
Spokane Tribe Language and Culture
ƛ̓uxʷ šey̓ lʔe n šiyulexʷ We have always walked this land
Albert Sam
hem̓is hem̓is
Morning Dove
cq̓sipiʔ kʷen̓t hi nk̓ʷeʔłxʷm łiy̓e huł hem̓is hem̓is hu n ččiy̓eʔs.
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A long time ago there they had one home these two people Mourning Dove and his maternal grandmother.
łiy̓e nk̓ʷa xʷist hem̓is hem̓is
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Here this one day he left did Mourning Dove
qs k̓ʷʔis čłpmi.
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he was going to go hunting.
hi č̓uw, hi č̓uw, čmlk̓ʷma hi sč̓uw---
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he was gone, he was gone, the whole day he was gone---
ho··y, hu heÅ‚ cÌŒicÌŒsÌŒ------ heÊ”cÌ“Ì“sÌŒcÌŒeÊ”! č̓uw-lÌ“eÊ”xÊ·! hecyaÊ•Ì“ ƛ̓mÌ“ Å‚uÊ” hec qÌ“iqÌ“eÊ”y-- hi č̓uw-č̓uÊ”uw!
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Fi--nally he got home----- what happened! the land was bare! Everyone that had their teepees there-- they were all gone!
tmÌ“a putiÊ” ttwÌ“it hemÌ“is hemÌ“is-- ho···y, cÌŒtqpels, č̓upelsm, hu sÌŒeyÌ“ scÌ“qÊ·aqÊ·-- "ha-yo, t hi skÌ“Ê·uy! ha-yo, t hi skÌ“Ê·uy!"
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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?!"
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he was heard by coyote, he got on coyote's nerves so coyote told him-- "That's enough!"
kÊ·entm t spilye, yoyoscut—
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he was grabbed by coyote, with all his might—
hu čc̓q̓mn̓ew̓sntm n heʔc šit̓--
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and he flung Mourning Dove high into a tree—
"lšeʔ, m kʷ nyaʕ̓pmist-- m pentč m ha qs čc̓qʷaqʷʔum ha skʷuy!"
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"There, you shall stay forever-- you will always be heard crying this way for your mother!"
šey̓ hu hoy
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That is all