snxʷmeneʔ nqʷlqʷeltn
6190 Agency Loop Road
PO Box 100
Wellpinit, WA 99040
509-258-4222
Spokane Tribe Language and Culture
naAmOtm Ou/ s/uRSi/c
(Sky People Steal Their Fire)
ez spilye hec zestleWisi/ Ye nJa. zu>>>y hu dqltidn Ye n/ec moA. D yiSu>>>t hu widm, ti/ hec QiQe>>>y. ti/ dze/ze/yi/t hec Qi-Qey Ou/ huO sqeliz.
Coyote as usual, was walking around one day. He went to the top of a high mountain. Down below he saw camps, there were a lot of people camped down there.
hi sa>>>y! Ou/ n yiheWsm n/ec QiQey hu hecyaFF hec psplwa/si>>>af, Ne/J Ou/ t huO sdDmasQt na/AmOtm Ou/ s/uRSi/ct!! hoy cM Oi Ye ilmizm hec sus/uOtuMSi-“jeNt qa/qs eSdeni/!”—ta swet hepO scntels.
There were a lot of people milling around, they were all excited about something. Oho!The Sky People have stolen their fire, they need to get it back, the chief said "What can we do?" He asked around and no one had any ideas.
hoy teSlS CsqaqNe/. ih! hi Qez! hi pi>>>q Ou/ xcnuMtis!
Eam-Emt Ou/ snTapMintis, --ih! Ou/ TaTapmifs njtnaqsm, ti/! hec jesc Ou/ cjiNds. xCpnuntm t hecyaF. hoy, cuti, “hayo! Pi/ sLxLaxt! hi we tam hi s t l/e, hu pN nENNmiOmn>>>De ta pe/pO s/uRSict, ldeN m p axilm m p Ec-Eec-mi-st, lden m p axilm m p JLsncutm/?
Then the Chickadee stood up proud, he had on white clothing. He had a beautiful quiver on his back, wow! His arrows were beautiful, he was holding an expensive bow. He said "Wow! My friends, even though I'm not from here, I feel bad for you, you have no fire, how are you going to keep warm, how are you going to cook?
hoy ce/ xest qe heO Cwetntm Ou/ ha s/uRSict>>>em we ge p Jigt ge p dmSmSqnmist>>>p/iqs cunm—“Ye hin cjind>>>[nwisSlSc] yo>>>yo>>>ft! jeNt Ou/ hin TaTapmin, unez aY/aY puO! ta steM hec SiDdstn! Ne dn d Ta/Ta/pastQm>>> Nem n steM m dQLuz- jeNt Ne tL Se/ dn Tapim, jeNt Nem tl Yi/Sut Ou/ n /ec S/it m nez dQLuz-Ou/ Ne Cspnun hin TaTapmin, jeNt Ou/ hanwi han TaTapmin qe/ julmntm.
"It will be better for everyone if we went to get the fire back. Even though some of you have given up. Let me tell you, my bow here, (raises it up) it's strong! And my arrows are swift, I never miss a thing I shoot at. If I shoot up into the sky, it'll attach itself onto something. Then I will shoot again, it will attach again,when my arrows run out we'll use yours.
Csip, jeNt nez t dnaqs>>>ho>>>y m qe/ ti/zO snDiwlStn Ou/ D sdDmasQt qe/ Dldids>>>qa/qO Cwetm Ou/ han surSict” hoy, CsqaqNe/ heO OaqslS.
Then when those run out we'll use someone else's arrows and then we will have made a ladder to the sky. When we arrive we will go after your fire. Then Chickadee sat down.
hoy, Oi Ye ilmizm heO teSlS- “sewNe/-mnt CsqaqNe/, ha l SeY m qe/ axilm/! huy, u-wewlSwi, steM Ou/ has s cntels/!”
Then the Chief stood up again, "You all heard Chickadee, is this how we should go about getting our fire back? What are your thoughts?"
ge/jilS sc/a/ teSlS>>>ngxcin hu nOzOzMeLsM>>>hu sic Ozzpcin-“pi/ sLxLaxt, sewNe/mnt Ou/ qe/ ilmizm>>>Za dmiS lSey m qe/ axlutm m qe/ heO jnn/untm Ou/ qe/ s/uRSist-ha qs miy-step Ou/ hi scntels. hoy, Se/ dn D/up.” ih! hecyaF dxi/Csmntm sc/a/ hu heO OaqSlS.
Medicine Man Black Crow stood up, he cleared his throst loudly and then spoke. "Friends you heard our Chief, is this how we should go about getting our fire back, you know my thought on this, so I will be quiet". Wow, everyone was looking at him, so he sat down.
hoy, nez Ou/ aNN, nez Ou/ smOiD, nez su/wet il-il-mizm, hecyaf hu ntqi/dis Ou/ Csqaqne’s sp/us Ou/ Csqaqne’s DOpa/xs.
Magpie also stood up, and Salmon, and all the other Chiefs stood up and agreed with Chickadee's proposal.
heCe>>>wt hu heO teSlS Ou/ ilmizm, “ge sewNe/mncn, SeY Ou/ p/uO pxpaxt- lSe m qe/ axilm Ne xlip m qe/ dTaTa/-pasQtm. hu pN Ye Dluz, qa/qs wnwenSi, qa/qs yaFpqiNi/! SeY hu hoy!”
At the end the Chief stood up again and said, "I hear you all, you are all wise in your decision, that is how we will do it. In the morning we will shoot our arrows into the sky, but tonight, we will dance and have a celebration. That is all!"
ih! Ou/ t EamEmt xcnu/tis hu xcnu/mtm, zi-zuy Ye D n-yi-heW-sm, lSe/ hu hec caq Ou/ pumifs, hoy Oa/qq Ou/ uO suzpumin-m. hu we/CSde/!! hi qm-qe>>>Mt ta sn-jne/M!
Wow! they were all dressed in their finest outfits, they went to the middle of the camp where the drum sat. The drummers sat down, they were all silent, they didn't sing.
cuti/ Ou/ ilmizm, “huy, t hanwi, njnew/iS!” aNN. “guz ta di ye/pO nyo/OEelm- sewnti ci/ smxeYdn!” cuti/ smxeYdn, “ta, nez Euy/e ta di ye/pO nyo/OEelm!!” hoy Oi Se/ tl Se? dnaqs sewntm, “ta>>>nez dnaqs, “ta>>>” hoy Oi/e tN All/ewt, “ta>>>!” ta swet hepO EelM!! jeNt nte Ye ilmizm, “jeNt qa/ qs eSdeni/! lden m qe/ wenSm Ne ta swet hepO EelM/!!”
The Chief said, "Magpie you sing song." But I don't know any, ask Grizzly Bear. Grizzly Bear said, "I don't know any other songs either." He asked ones in the crowd, no one had a song to offer. Then the Chief thought to himself, "Now what are we going to do? How are we going to dance with no songs to sing?"
Oi Ye tN DlDmci>>>n hu edswiS spilye, JJye>>>cN hu hec sejciNi/. dmiS D sniOc>>>! Ou/ n sdsaxms>>> sewne/mntm, hu J/is cu/ys Ou/ ilmizm, hoy c-we/ntm spilye t ilmizm- “he/! spilye, czuyS, njneyS! sewNe/mnct ge, je/ hepO xsOEelm ti/!!” ih! s-le-le/me/c, we>>>/ nSM hu xxLpuLe/z!
Then Coyote stood up, "I will whistle." The Chief heard and asked for someone to get him. The Chief told Coyote, "I heard you could sing a good song, go ahead." They were all happy and they danced until daylight!
hoy, Ou/ xlip, SeYs d Ta-Ta/pasQtm Ye CsqaqNe/!
The next day Chickadee began to shoot his arrows up into the sky.
Za ldeN hu axxi/lm Ou/ TaTa/pmifs, hu pN jeNt axxilm t snDiwlStn. Za n stMteM hu dQLQiLuz>>>/!
No one could ever understand how a ladder was formed,how they were hooked onto nothing.
i>>>h! Tapim! Tapim! Tapim! tMa ze/O Ta-Tapmin t xs-xest, t yoyoft, hepO xsO mryemistn Za, ho>>>y, hu Cspel hoy, CsqaqNe/ c-xlitm tN dnaqs, nez SeY DOCsip, tL Se/ c-xlit-m-. pu>>>t ntZZqin hu DO-O/aA Ou/ snDiwlStn>>>ho>>>Ye c DD/i>>>t D sTuliz, ho>>>y pe/Lsc Ne qs DWi/WLS. p cu/ntm Ne S/it hepO ze/O Ta-Ta- pmin hm sic DiwlS. Ne ta hepO TaTapmin, jeNt ta qs zuy. ho>>>y, hecyaFF hu DWi/WlS-C/uliz, nOamqe/ smOid, mhu/ye, hecyaF!
Boy! He shot and shot and shot his arrows until he ran out, then he asked the next one for arrows, they ran out, and then asked another one till they ran out. It was about noon when the ladder was finished. They were all told to replenish their arrows or they couldn't go. They all started to climb, Deer, Brown Bear, Salmon, Raccoon,all of them.
misnyaFJqi>>>n, iSSe/ m dedi/ hu smxeYdn c teSlS, qs eCe>>>wti/ ti/! ih pN guz cniOc!! ge cniOc miO hi xemt, hu he/c c-AeOt t s-cqiYeOce/, Za dJnSiCe/ t sPi/qaOt, sOaq, scxect, t stMteM. we cu/ys smxeYdn, “lSe/sj! lSe/sj Ou/ ha scAO-AeOt, xi Ne maWntz Ou/ qe/ sn-DiwlStn>>>” “ta>>>xi Ne miO dn dsQmeltn!! xi Ne dn nSeSi/t!” ih! pN Qmale/, ta s sewne/!! SeY s DiwlSm-hi yiQ-Q-Q! yiQ-Q-Q!! unez xemt!
Late afternoon came ol' Grizzly Bear's turn he was last. He was very heavy, and he carried many bags with food. They told him to leave everything or the ladder might break. He said "No, I might get hungry." They said he eats too much, he won't listen. The ladder sounded like it was going to break.
Za put sNwistm, hu DO-TWaq, hu cTyip smxeYdn>>>Ma, Ou/s xemc, jeNt hec tu>>>J, ta qs zTilS.
He climbed a ways when the ladder broke and Grizzly Bear fell to the ground.
hu pN Oi Ye Jigt, [ta hec mimiyscu/t, maWt Ou/ snDi/wlStis] zu>>>/y DOdi/dS n sdDmasQt>>>wi/ dm t njtne>>>tj, jeNt Ou D n/isAAut hec Qi-Qe>>>/y. hecyaF hu hec Ju/li t steM Ou/ sql-qLtmiz>>> D/e zist, D Se/ zist-Ou/ sci-cMelt hec me/mscu/ti Co/C/iwLS!!
The others didn't know the ladder broke, they climbed to the top, they saw a big river, on the other side they saw everyone's camp, working on whatever, and the children were playing and squealing.
19.) Ou/ peOpOJi/, pu>>>t hu s/uRu/sm, qs Pi/qe/lti t stM-teM s/iOn>>>ilmi/zms cuti- “Se>>>/Y Oi/e Ou/ qe/ naAmOlt qe/ s/uRSicti.”
19.) The Women were building fires to cook something to eat. The Chief said, "These are the ones that stole our fire."
20.) hoy julsc OaMaYe/ hu sDewile, lxteWs nOi/ Nem xest dnStwe/z.
20.) The Frog and Water Snake were sent to look around because they were good friends and could help ech other.
21.) jeNt cM tj/u/t hec OTpncut OaMaYe/, jeNt hec tyeS sDewile-EMeWt s tj/u/t, tMa LLJut! ho>>>y jeNt dsQmeltn sDewile/, enih, dhoydst dsQmeltn>>>we gu/g/u/sm t s/iOn>>> ta! hoy nte sDewile/ “jeNt steM Ou/ yec g/em/!! ge Ye Ne Qmnten hi sLaxt, jeNt Nem dn mQend!”
21.) They started walking, the Frog jumped and the Water Snake crawled it took them a long time because it was a long ways. The Water Snake got hungry and looked for some food. Then he thought, why am I looking for food, if I swallow my friend, then I will get full.
22.) “hoy, hi qs JeJNm!” TMOtas Ou/ sCu/Sifs OaMaYe/ “hayo! xest!!” ntels.
“hoy! hoy! hoy!” cuti/ OaMaYe/ “DucnS, xi Ne qe/ sewne/m-Olt! ho>>>y, Oi Ye dsAutSis>>>”hoy! hoy! hoy!” ta s sewne/ sDewile/.
22.) I'm going to try a little taste, he licked the Frog's foot, "Wow, that was good." "Quit, quit, quit" said the Frog. "Quiet," said the Snake, "someone might hear us." The Water Snake wouldn't listen. He licked his other foot. "Quit, Stop, Stop!"
23.) nOi/ hec dsxsaqsi. hoy, Oi Ye hec milJ>>>ho>>>y put Oi Ye spOqifs OaMaYe/>>>em hec “hoy! hoy! hoy!”
23.) Finally he had Frog's head in his mouth, poor Frog was still trying to stop him, "Quit, Quit, Quit!"
24.) hu Qmntem OaMaYe/ Qmntem t sLaxc! De hi csD/e>>>nd sDewile/, tLzmist, ta qs tyeS! hec Tu>>>J pupu/send, ZL iOis Ou/ sLaxc-SeY hu heO PlDusm, ta Ne dnaqs m JuLLnuy-s, Ou/ ilmizms DOpa/xs- C/eS! C/eS! Ou/ n-miy-pm-ist D ilmizm Ou/ cu/c.
24.) He swallowed Frog, he swallowed his friend. Then Water Snake couldn't crawl, he laid there. He felt bad that he had eaten his friend, he turned around and went back. He was ashamed that he had to tell the Chief what happened.
25.) hoy, sqLeW teSlS hu cuti-“Ne qe/ n nmlqnups, Nem qe/zuy.” nmlqnups qs Tuzti D hec moA- Ou/ tN stZicN m heO cn-yaQSLS Ye n sdDmasQt ilmizms QeyMutYe/s. hu Oi Ye sqLeW Ne Ye nyiStetj m ndrip-m Ou/ D suxcifs m heO TJJcnetj, Ne njejst! tMa Ou/ spums Ye sqLeW, hecyaF sqeliz hu hec Zu/pmifs. Nem zyusntm sqLeW D ilmi/zms, ne qs d-cuje/lzms sqLeW.
25.) The Beaver stood and said, "Eagle and I will go,Eagle will fly to the mountain, and then I will swim under water and accidently wash ashore, since all the people wish for Beaver pelts, they will bring Beaver to the Chief to be skinned"
26.) Ne puti/ he/c dcje/lzms sqLeW, m dTuztene/is t mlqnups m ngxciscut- Ou/ ta pi/steM t qe/c wi/dsc mlqnups, Nem uO t xcpnuntm, SeY n jeys s/uRSict t sqLeW m zTpusis!
26.) When they are still skinning the Beaver, Eagle would fly overhead screeching loudly, they'd run outside to look, that is when Beaver will grab the fire and run with it.
27.) unez! lSe/ hu axi/lm-cwe/is sumeSs sqLeW, hu PeLDMNcut hu heO nOuzzpalqs-mis Ou/ Qetts- AuMM t CiZCZt-D DmpeOz hu ocqe/-SeYs zTip D ntzetj-!!
27.) Yes that is how to do it, Beaver called on his power, he turned himself around inside his skin to fit back into his hide. He took some coals, and quickly ran outside and kept running to the river!
28.) hayo! Wddnuntm, SeYs dtqntem sqLeW- hu pN ge hec nOTpmetj, SiDDntm t uO sdDmasqt sqeliz-ih! Ou/ tn yisAut hec c-do-do-Si//lS Ou/ sLx-laxc sqLeW!
28.) Boy! the Sky People saw Beaver and chased after him, but he had jumped into the river already, he'd gotten away from the Sky People, from across the river his people were yelling and cheering for the Beaver!
29.) Ou/ ilmi/zms cuti, “Ne xxLpule/z, m q/eO weOjp!! ha SeY/!” cuti sPrJaqs “he/, ce/j S/it qe/ soAqintm Ou/ ilmi/zms, qa/qO ziyustn, qa/qO dfaCCxtn-.” Cuntm t ilmizm-“zuyS!” SeYs tyeS sPrJaqs- hi Sept Sept! Sept! gmey hu hec AA/ap! ho>>>y cM Qs-s-pilS- dicis ye ilmizm-ih, pN jeNt hu DOniDde/is, t steM hu dzepCe/is, ho>>>y, qe/O zuy-hoy cM DO-ne/ DNumt-“hayo! ge npa/qcin neJ!”
29.) Their Chief told them, "At daybreak we'll all climb back down the ladder. Turtle said, "We should first scalp their Chief, then we'd have a trophy." The CHief said,"Go ahead." The Turtle started crawling, very very slowly. It took him a long time to arrive at their Chief's. He cut his head off and wrapped it up, he was going to start back when he noticed it was already getting to be daylight.
30.) wiCis Oi Ye yamZe hec dSReWis- dDiwlS hu n-lSe/ hu wejwist- hec DOnQ/axnmis Ye spOqin! ta s QQsipi/ hu sewNe/mis Ye peO-pOJi/, hec u- Ru-Ru/si qs JOsncu/ti-
30.) He saw a basket hanging up high on the tipi pole, he climbed up and hid inside it, he still had the head under his arm. Not very long he heard some women starting their fires to start cooking.
31.) cgedsm sPrJaqs widis ye dnaqs qs J/is qiONms Ou/ ilmizm dO-D-husis- enih! Oi Ye ngxcin hu cafafa! ih, cnppi/lS Ye Jigt- hi nAe/ct! gu/gusm t Za swet hu l/e axism Ou/ ilmi/zms-ta swet!!- tam t Se/, Ye pu/ilmizm, hec c/oti! ho>>>y D/up
31.) He saw one woman going towards the Chief's bed to wake him up, she screamed loudly, the others came in crying loudly, looking around to see who could have done this, there was no one. The Chief's wife cried loudly and finally they quieted down.
32.) “cjent Oi Se/ yamZe/ SeY Ou/ xmends Ou/ hi s-pu/-glil, jeNt Nem n cniOc m nez qa/qs laQ-“puti/ hec ElEelti hu cqOtem- yo>>>Ye sPrJaqs tN nyiSut hu ctyeS- hecyaF heO sif/i Ya-i/! SeY! Ou/ qe/ Smens!
32.) "Give me that basket, my husband liked it and we should bury him with it". It was set down in front of her, Turtle came crawling out of it. "Here's our enemy", they shouted!
33.) “sPaPqnti!-pulsji!! NcQmnet-jnt, n hec n ptpma--!” “une Sey, Eu nCQmnet-jnt, hin xmend Ou/ ngaQj!!”- “tam! tam! ne/j xmends ta qs nglletj!!” “nCQmnusnti n s/uRSict!”
33.) "Hit him on the head! Kill him, throw him into hot boiling water!" "Yes,yes throw me into hot water, I like that." "No,no he likes it he won't drown, throw him in the fire."
34.) “Ze/Oe! Ze/Oe/! hin xmend Ou/ gaQ s/uRSict!” “tam! tam! ne/j n s/urSict hu hec lSe/” “nCQmnetjnti! nCQmnetjnti! Ne qs nglletji!”
34.) "Hurry!! Hurry!! I like hot fire, I live part time there.""No! No! In the fire is where he stays part time, I know, let's throw him in the river! The he will drown."
35.) “tam! tam! ta Es nCQmnetjnti- tam! tam!” hoy, nte Oi Ye huO sdDmasQt-“unez hec nxeli- Nem unez nglletj!!” yoyoscu/t hu nCQmne/tjis Ye sPrJaqs- heO c/a/CCx- hi JJi>>>Ye/t, hi pil-l, pil-l, pil-l, hu DODluz n ntZetj-ih! d- Za/Z/ey mintm- “he/! ne/J ta hec yo/-stes snDrip!”
35.) "No! No! Don't throw me in the river, I might drown." They thought he really is afraid of the water, they thought he would really drown. They picked him up and threw him as hard as they could into the river. They watched as the turtle slowly turned over and over until he was out of sight, they laughed and laughed at Turtle, saying "He doesn't even know how to swim."
36.) hi je>>>Nt hu Ou/ tn n-yis-Aut hu cOa/Acin swet “yi-ha-ha! yi-ha-ha!” jssu/s, a//CCx-he/! su/zis sPrJaqs! hec c-ta-ta/qms Ou/ t ilmi/zms spOqifs—hu Ou/ D dsAtedst hec jesc Ou/ CiZCZt! Yi-ha-ha! Piczt Ye dnaqs sdDmasQt PZPZut hu cuti—“ge hu cuncn!”
36.) After a bit from across the river they heard a yell, "Yi...ha-ha!Yi...ha-ha!" Startled the Sky People looked and said, "Hey, we know him, it's Turtle!" He was waving their Chief's head around, in his other hand he had the coal. One of the old ones said, "I could have told you."
37.) hoy, Oi Ye uO zizeYuO heO uO we/Ojp Ye n snDi/WlSti/s-tMa puti Ou/ tn nwist gM hu maWis smxeydn, Ou/ miO sxem-c. sPrJaqs nvostmi/st n snDeLzdi/s hu OTpmncut- hi D TasCe/, jeNt ta slzup Ou/ heO TJJule/z.
37.) Then all of the animals climbed down the ladder, when they got to the broken part of the ladder, Turtle tucked his head, tail, legs into his shell and jumped, he had a hard shell and wouldn't be hurt when he hit bottom.
38.) Oi Ye huO zizeYuO, heO cz/e//- Jigt Ye sWeWO Ye n ntZetj hu n/u/st, Jigt Ye n DM-DeMe/ hu dO/i-li/l-ZL SeY hu Ou/ Jigt sWeWO hepO ze/O sCMCoM-tMa, pt-pt- ju/j t DM-Dem-e/ ZL nyifap!
38.) The birds were able to fly down,some of the fish landed in the water, others fell in a bunch of pine needles that stuck in their bodies and stayed, that's why some fish have many bones.
39.) hi c-OPi>>>m Ou/ zizeYuO- ho>>>y cM Ten-WeYe/ ctet-SlS ne/J hec nxexLi/- we cuntm, tam unez Din- Dnt-ta! xl-xlmist! hoy, jeys Ou/ sisCMs, hu zeple/ zis-Ye t CxiO sgguJe/ hu dTaENte>>>s. Ne Ou/ n snDmDmOQeYc, nOuE-OuE- OEQeYtnMis, eSdeys hoy, OTpncut-
39.) It was time for Bat to climb down, he stood scared, they told him go ahead it's not dangerous, he wouldn't, he grabbed his blanket and some kindling sticks and sewed to his blanket. he made holes for his arms, put it on, and jumped.
40.) hoy CxiO t Tuztlwistn- neWntm- D/e, neWntm DSe/- hoy cM DO-yaFpmmist-ta qs DO dicis Ou/ sTuliz-SeY pentd qs Tuztlwisi, heO n /aWW-YaFqin, heO eSdenm- jeNt pentd
hepO sisCM TenWeYe/- jeNt unez hec n/awa/qin hu hec itS-!
40.) Boy! The wind blew him this way and that way, he was gliding, he never reached the earth, he will now always have to fly, sometimes he even flies upside-down. Now he always wears his blanket, he even sleeps in it, upside-down.
41.) hecyaF Ou/ zizeYuO heO Tjju/le/z-heO xspiye>>>Wt, jeNt nOi/ hepO s/uRSi/ct!
41.) All of the animals touched the ground again, they enjoy life again, because they now have their fire.
42.) SeY hu hoy
42.) The End