Archive | Stories

Xwelált means ‘become evening, get dark’.

Sepsáp thel sétl’atel means ‘My big brother was stubborn/headstrong’.

Sepsáp means ‘stubborn, headstrong, bullheaded‘.

Híkw! Yeláwel híkw teli tl’á’elthe! means ‘It was big, bigger than me!’.

Yeláwel híkw teli tl’á’elthe means ‘It was bigger than me.’

Híkw! in the context of the story here means ‘It was big’. Elizabeth is using the one word as a full sentence.

Osu ileqelhsthóxes te mimele’ó:ylha means ‘She bought me a doll’. The word ‘she‘ (referring to the white lady) is not explicitly stated, but is understood from context..

Mimele’ó:ylha means ‘doll‘. The origin of the word is not entirely clear, but it appears to come from the meaning ‘little child made of wood’.

Mekw’stám te ileqelhtsthóxes, thútl’o xwelítem slhá:lí! means ‘That white lady bought me EVERYTHING!’. Literally: Everything (was) what (she) bought me, that white lady!

Thútl’o xwelítem slhá:li means ‘that white lady‘ or ‘that white woman’.