sékw’emiy

birch tree

Sekw’emiy is the Halq’eméylem word for ‘birch tree’. It’s name is related to the word for ‘to peel’, to ‘take bark off’…

Pronunciation

• Sékw’emiy sounds like “SOOK-wuh-MEE”, except that the k is popped.
• To make the k popped, you combine it with a catch in the throat (glottal stop).

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips

Related words

Sékw’emiy come from the same root as these words:

• síkw’ – get peeled, get skinned
• síkw’et – skin (it), peel (it)
• síkw’em – skin or bark pulls off

All these words are about taking the bark/skin/peel off of something. The words are especially used for things where the skin/bark/peel comes off easily.  The ending -iy means tree, so  sékw’emiy means literally tree that is easy to peel.

Plural Form

The plural form for sékw’emiy is like this: sekw’sékw’emiy – birch trees. (Audio here.)

This form of plural is made by doubling (‘reduplicating’) the first three sounds.

Sekw’sékw’emiy (or Sekw’sékw’ema:y) was also the name of a place in Chilliwack, where a creek meets Chilliwack River Road. There was a grove of birch trees at this place.