029 Nyman E - History of the Taku Yanyeidí - Translation.txt

{Number = 029}
{Type = Original}
{Title = Tʼaakú Yanyeidí Daat Shkalneek / The History of the Taku Yanyeidí}
{Author = Seidayáa / Elizabeth Nyman}
{Clan = Yanyeidí; Ḵaach.ádi yádi}
{Source = Nyman & Leer 1993: 11–35}
{Translator =  Weihá / Jeff Leer}
{Page = 11}
1	A great glacier used to stretch down to the mouth of the Taku River.
2	Haven’t you seen the mouth of the Taku?
3	{No.}
4	It used to stretch down to there, they say.
5	A mountain
6	stands there
7	by where the glacier used to be.
8	The people [to the south of the glacier] didn’t know
9	that there were people to the north,
10	and [those to the north didn't know about] those to the south
11	either.
12	Now there were two old men.
13	[One lived at] the place called Kax̱tóok, to the north.
14	That is where the lodge now stands.
15	I am going to tell you the true history of it.
16	The Taku people were making a house, they say.
17	Our clan, which got the name Yanyeidí from [this house],
18	this is the history of it.
19	This old man, the true leader of our people,
20	a Wolf,
21	was asked
22	by his nephews and brothers,
23	“What shall we make our house of?”
24	they said to him, so they say.
25	”Well, how would it be,
26	how about
27	that hemlock growing over there?”
28	he said, they say
29	“that is what we will make our house of.”
30	So they ran over to it
31	and chopped it down with an adze.
32	They hewed the hemlock; the young men hewed it.
33	[There was a cavity extending into the glacier.
34	Now] the [old man] to the south,
35	heard something.
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36	It was actually [the people to the north]
37	taking up the drum to mourn the loss
38	of the adze, which had broken off at the head.
39	It was the only adze they had;
40	they were expressing their grief over it.
41	Their voice came from the other side,
42	resounding through the glacier.
43	“How could it be
44	that I hear something like a human voice?”
45	the man said,
46	the one to the south—
47	his name was Naada.éiyaa,
48	the one living to the south.
49	Now the other [old man], the one at Kax̱tóok,
50	used to live up inland from
51	where the river went [under the glacier].
52	After he had thought it over,
53	“Let me find out about this,”
54	he thought to himself, they say.
55	[They used to have] knee boots
56	[that] they called x̱ʼatux̱.ayéeg̱i, long ago.
57	They would [take] moose hide
58	[and] cut it here,
59	the hide from the hindquarters
60	as long as a person’s foot,
61	and the upper part
62	would reach to the top of the shin.
63	The part where
64	the heel is located,
65	here they would sew it together with sinew.
66	They used to make awls from marten tails.
67	Then they would cover it with pitch
68	so it would be waterproof.
69	These are what they would use to walk
70	in the rain.
71	So the old man was thinking about this.
72	[It was in spring when] the plants were coming out.
73	So he chopped down some willows
74	and peeled off the bark.
75	Then he took a knee boot
76	and wrapped the bark around it
77	very securely.
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78	He released it into the Taku to be carried down with the current
79	and it floated under the glacier.
80	So what do you know,
81	Naada.éiyaa saw it.
82	“Something strange has floated down here.
83	Run and jump in the canoe,”
84	he told his nephews.
85	So they quickly paddled over to it
86	and snatched it [out of the water].
87	When they showed it to Naada.éiyaa,
88	“Then there must be people on the other side of the glacier,”
89	he said.
90	Then his slave
91	and he, Naada.éiyaa,
92	made a canoe out of something.
93	Then the slave dragged [the canoe] over the glacier.
94	Lo and behold, [the river] to the north of it was like a lake;
95	it was high tide.
96	[The one at] Kax̱tóok,
97	Kax̱tóok,
98	the old man,
99	was named Xóots,
100	Brown Bear.
101	There was something–he must have been watching constantly,
102	constantly watching.
103	There was something up there.
104	“Look at the side of the glacier.
105	There’s something strange,
106	something,
107	maybe an eagle,
108	or could that be a raven flying along there?
109	It doesn’t look like one to me, though,”
110	he said.
111	[The slave] was pulling the canoe this way, toward them.
112	“It is just like a person,”
113	they said, so they say.
114	At the place they call Goose Slough
115	they brought a canoe down to the water
116	and paddled.
117	It was to mourn the loss of the adze
118	that they had taken up the drum.
119	And what do you know, they were Tlingits!
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120	Then Naada.éiyaa said,
121	"Tláax̱wayei,"
122	and the other old man also replied "Tláax̱wayei."
123	They were saying, “Hello.”
124	Then
125	Naada.éiyaa
126	was told about the adze,
127	the only one they had,
128	it had broken off at the head.
129	Now Naada.éiyaa had some adzes in the canoe.
130	So he could use them to chop the glacier ice
131	he had them in the canoe. [He gave one to them].
132	[So in return] they sent a female slave to him,
133	to Naada.éiyaa.
134	My, everyone was in an uproar.
135	They hadn’t known that there were people to the south.
136	So then
137	after they had sent the female slave to him,
138	he stayed over with them for some days.
139	Xóots and Naada.éiyaa discussed
140	how it was to be.
141	There was no way to go under the glacier in canoes.
142	Then Naada.éiyaa,
143	who was of our moiety, a Wolf,
144	said
145	“I have been thinking about it,
146	and this is what I will do.
147	There will be no glacier there.”
148	First thing in the morning
149	they sent the female slave to him in exchange for the adzes.
150	They set her in the canoe.
151	They floated down with the tide,
152	intending to pull [the canoe] over the glacier again.
153	Now that man Naada.éiyaa
154	had a male slave.
155	Naada.éiyaa decapitated him
156	and dragged across the glacier
157	the decapitated [body of the slave].
158	Therefore this place is called Yakwdeiyí (canoe path)
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159	after the [slave whose body] he dragged across the glacier.
160	To this day we call it Yakwdeiyí.
161	And along here,
162	along Yakwdeiyí,
163	there was a trail of blood,
164	the slave’s blood.
165	It was as if hot water had been poured out;
166	just like that
167	it kept collapsing inward,
168	the glacier kept collapsing inward [as if melting away].
169	Then
170	the Taku People’s Glacier—
171	this is what we used to call it—
172	was cleft open all the way up [to the mountainsides];
173	it crumbled apart in a straight line,
174	creating a way
175	for them to travel among one another.
176	This is why there are some people from Juneau
177	living in the interior,
178	in Teslin,
179	here in Whitehorse, and in Atlin.
180	This is what I tell them,
181	but because they are white people
182	they do not understand.
183	It’s this boundary line that has separated us,
184	I tell them.
185	Then, they say,
186	they finished building the house,
187	Hemlock House.
188	“Now how shall we name our people after it?”
189	said Xóots—
190	Xóots and Ltaaduteen,
191	these were his names.
192	Then he said,
193	“So that we will have a name to be called by,
194	this is Hemlock House.
195	Therefore we are Yanyeidí,
196	the Hemlock House Clan.”
197	The men are Yanyeidí,
198	and we women are Yanyeidisháa.
199	To this very day I sometimes look
200	at that mountain so high.
201	It rises up
202	where the glacier used to stretch across;
203	so I used to be told.
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204	After that—
205	they would periodically tear down the old house
206	and build a new one in its stead.
207	Now my aunt, my father’s sister—
208	Long ago, they did not bear children at home.
209	They would [stay] in a brush hut
210	some distance away from the people
211	[and] have their babies.
212	Now when the new Hemlock House was being built,
213	my aunt was born there.
214	The way they dragged [the hemlocks for] Hemlock House along
215	was like a trail.
216	Beside [the trail] she was born
217	after they finished the house,
218	[or rather] when it was almost finished.
219	For one month
220	they wouldn’t walk around outside, long ago,
221	after they had their baby.
222	And it was one of your clan;
223	a little [Raven] girl was born.
224	When they walked into the house with her mother,
225	after one month
226	they carried her into Hemlock House.
227	“What will her name be?”
228	the new [chief named] Ltaaduteen said—
229	the old one had died.
230	Then he said,
231	“So that she will have a name to be called by,
232	you must name her Deiyax̱sháa (Trailside Woman),
233	for it was beside Hemlock House Trail
234	that she was born.”
235	She is one of the Children of the Yanyeidí.
236	You too are [of] the Children of the Yanyeidí;
237	this is a precious thing.
238	Just like the child of the Queen of England,
239	you are valuable [people],
240	because you are the Children of the Yanyeidí.
241	It was my uncle, my father’s brother, who gave you the name
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242	Weihá.
243	You are truly exalted,
244	[you and] all the Children of the Yanyeidí,
245	[whose name comes] from the Taku River.
246	This is why I want you to see
247	your background, your history,
248	what happened in the past.
249	As long as [I live]—
250	I will not live forever,
251	but those who come after you will read it.
252	If only you were taken by boat along the Taku River
253	you could write down the whole story in a book.
254	Now
255	your mother [that comes from] us, whom you do not know—
256	but you will know all [your history] from the Taku River,
257	what happened to you in your past
258	Then you will put down on paper
259	your treasure—
260	this is what we call it,
261	we Tlingits.
262	All the Children of the Yanyeidí
263	are treasured.
264	No one will shove his fist in your face;
265	this is how people respected themselves long ago.
266	If someone were to talk down to you,
267	one would be offended by it.
268	This is how you are.
269	My uncle,
270	this is a valuable name,
271	Weihá,
272	[that] he gave to you.
273	As [one of] the Children of the Yanyeidí
274	you are exalted;
275	your name is very valuable.
276	This is what I was telling that woman.
277	As the Queen
278	and King George are respected,
279	so no one will be able to say anything against you;
280	this is truly how it is with the Children of the Yanyeidí
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281	and the Yanyeidí,
282	[whose name comes] from the Taku River.
283	Therefore I want you to see
284	the place where your history came into being
285	through us.
286	It is truly difficult
287	to explain this to the younger generation.
288	Long ago,
289	before there were white people,
290	then
291	they used to respect one another.
292	Now, you are a Raven;
293	you are my uncle’s namesake.
294	I am a Wolf.
295	People in this relationship
296	we considered suitable partners for one another.
297	And to our children [we give]
298	names [of people] that we held dear:
299	our grandfather, our mother’s sister,
300	our mother’s brother.
301	Such names,
302	names we hold dear,
303	are suitable for [our children];
304	we give them to them.
305	It’s good that my uncle gave his name to you;
306	there is nothing wrong with it at all, I think.
307	It’s good
308	that you were named Weihá.
309	He was a very wise man,
310	my uncle
311	Weihá.
312	I knew him well.
313	But these days, even though, [for example],
314	I am a Wolf,
315	and that man is a Wolf too,
316	they just run to each other anyway.
317	And afterwards, when they have a potlatch,
318	they will say to me,
319	“Me too, give my child a name.”
320	What am I to name her?
321	Her father is a Wolf,
322	her mother a Wolf,
323	and the girl too, a Wolf.
324	What am I to name her?
325	It is destructive [to our society], see?
326	This is wrong to me,
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327	and the way things are going these days [is not good].
328	Long ago, when something would happen to one of them—
329	ever since I was a girl
330	I have known this—
331	whatever a person leaves behind,
332	such as my tattered belongings here,
333	if something were to happen to me,
334	they would pack them up,
335	my sewings
336	or whatever.
337	After one year they would bring them out
338	for those who are of the Wolf clan,
339	“This is your mother’s sister’s; this is your mother’s,”
340	[with these words] they distribute them.
341	They contribute money for it,
342	“[This is for] the fence around her grave;
343	this here is for her headstone,”
344	[they all work] together.
345	But now things are not like that;
346	it doesn’t matter to people if something happens to someone.
347	So if you would only go with us
348	to the Taku River,
349	after [the trip],
350	you could take down my story in writing.
351	I don’t want
352	my poor children—
353	some of them are 55 years old—
354	I don’t want them to lose
355	the way we used to live.
356	So I too hope
357	that you can take off a month and go with us
358	if you have any chance.
359	Long ago at the time
360	I was talking about, [before the time of] Naada.éiyaa,
361	there were [two] giants
362	at the mouth of the Taku River.
363	Now they had a disagreement.
364	It's been a long time since I've seen
365	Wasʼasʼéi.
366	Perhaps you don't know what it is, either?
367	It’s right across from Keishixjixʼaa.
368	The mountain is like that,
369	as if touching the face of it;
370	it is called Wasʼasʼéi.
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371	Now [Lkoodaséitsʼk] the one upriver from Kax̱tóok [started the fight];
372	they ran to attack one another,
373	the giants,
374	and then they fought.
375	Then [Wasʼasʼéi] decapitated [Lkoodaséitsʼk] there
376	and threw his head over to the other side of the Taku River.
377	Here, as it were, like this,
378	face down,
379	is his head.
380	His torso [and] shoulder,
381	there are trees growing around where it landed,
382	young trees.
383	Here where he was decapitated
384	water flows out of his windpipe like this.
385	His heart he yanked out
386	and threw it into the Taku River.
387	There is a small island there,
388	perhaps a little larger than this room,
389	stretched out so;
390	only short grass grows on it.
391	“This will be the Heart of the Taku,”
392	said
393	Wasʼasʼéi.
394	He [went to]
395	the place where [the mountain] is today, Wasʼasʼéi—
396	he moved there.
397	This is what my father-in-law used to tell us;
398	since he was a young boy
399	they told him that it’s still the same as ever.
400	For some reason it never drifts away,
401	the Heart of the Taku?
402	I suppose it is still there to this day.
403	It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it.
404	It is still in the middle of the Taku River.
405	At Wasʼasʼéi,
406	at the place where it is,
407	they would go for seagull eggs long ago.
408	This is what I was telling that white woman:
409	maybe this is what people thought of us Tlingits,
410	that we subsisted only on fish
411	and on meat.
412	No.
413	They would dry all sorts of things.
414	King salmon is a highly valued food, they say;
415	they would dry it:
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416	dry fish from the belly,
417	the tail,
418	the head,
419	the back.
420	They would slice off fillets to make the real dry fish.
421	Then in the middle of winter,
422	whichever ones [they felt like],
423	sometimes the heads, they would soak them
424	and boil them.
425	And you know what they made salt from?
426	Long ago perhaps they were not familiar with salt.
427	But then according to what my father-in-law told me,
428	he used to tell this story,
429	that people used to beach their canoes inside Keishixjixʼaa
430	and build fires around stone pots.
431	They were tall
432	and long,
433	and the handles were stout.
434	They would move [the pots] about with poles
435	[stuck through the handles], they say.
436	They would [go out to] the ocean
437	[and] get [salt water] from the channel.
438	They would fill up a stone pot with salt water.
439	Then they would build a fire around it
440	and it would boil and boil.
441	Gradually the water would evaporate.
442	When it had evaporated
443	they would lift the pot off the fire
444	so it could cool off.
445	The women would [take] moose bladders
446	[and] inflate them;
447	they would let them dry and fold them into shape.
448	Maybe a pound of salt, maybe more,
449	it all depends, how much salt [you get].
450	It was this thick
451	on [the bottom of] the stone pots.
452	Then they would scrape the salt off after it cooled.
453	[and put it] into the bladders,
454	filling them with salt.
455	This is what they knew how to do.
456	Well, they also dried berries: soapberries
457	and serviceberries,
458	crowberries in black bear grease,
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459	all kinds of berries.
460	Soapberries—
461	like this, they say—
462	my mother used to tell me
463	they were as thick as this.
464	They would make the bottoms of the containers from tree limbs,
465	square.
466	After they were boiled
467	and had hardened
468	they would store them in these,
469	pressing them down like seaweed;
470	they dried serviceberries and soapberries.
471	In winter they would soak them.
472	They would [mix] sugar in with the serviceberries
473	[and] prepare them for after dinner.
474	When they told stories—
475	I wish they had had tapes then—
476	they would sit around listening to stories.
477	The young people would prepare soapberries,
478	soapberries to eat.
479	“Leave off your stories now!”
480	they would eat the soapberries.
481	Now after they finished drying fish
482	they would head this way, to the mountains by Atlin.
483	They hunted ground squirrels,
484	groundhogs, mountain sheep, mountain goat and caribou.
485	A lucky man might get a moose.
486	They dried them,
487	and when they had dried everything
488	they would carry [two packs] down, relaying them.
489	The old village is called Tatlenxʼix̱oo.
490	[They would take different kinds of meat,]
491	mountain sheep, groundhog, ground squirrel,
492	[and] cook them together on different occasions.
493	But what people think of us
494	is that we subsisted on only one kind of food.
495	No, different kinds.
496	I was there to see my mother-in-law do this.
497	My, we carried mountain goats down
498	at the Taku River.
499	What are called hoofs
500	she singed the fur off all of them;
501	they are just like bacon.
502	She took them out of the water and scraped them off,
503	and the heads likewise.
504	Then she put them away in a gunnysack.
505	“Put it on the drying rack,”
506	she told me.
507	Not until this time of the year, January, did she ask me about it,
508	“Bring some hoofs
509	and heads.”
510	She put them right in the pot
511	and boiled them.
512	When it was quite soft from boiling—
513	It’s quite a change from other things, eh?
514	This is how we used to live;
515	this is what I’m saying.
516	But it’s hard [to understand]
517	when it is not written down accurately.