Chinook letter from 1895

[Leanne Riding]

How about:

"Why do you [believe] in the shaman, why do you say: Very powerful, that
shaman? I don't see that he's very powerful: That he, so powerful, he'll
never get sick, never will die: Yet you [fully know] that shaman get
will sick and die like everyone else. If a person's a little sick: You
treat him shamanically and he becomes well, and you say the shaman made
him well: but not so. If a person's very sick, the shaman will never
make him well: If 100 shamans are with him they will never make him
well. If God wants to make him well, quickly he becomes well, but if God
wants that he dies, quickly he dies.

And why, you who [believe] in shamanism, should you go to God's way?
Soon you get sick, soon you die, and you'll be sorry about that! You
should [trust] in God, and you shouldn't [trust] in the shaman."

For tamanwas man I settled on "shaman" which I'm not sure is a good
word. If translated back in those days it would have ended up "magician,
conjuror or juggler" and "haha" would probably would have been turned
into "magic." That's what this boy would have been taught, anyway, but
I'm not sure that would be very helpful.

I put in brackets the words and phrases I don't know and I'm just
guessing.

I'm having fun today! :)

-- Leanne (http://timetemple.com)



On Friday, July 9, 2004, at 04:57 , David Robertson wrote:

> This was in Kamloops Wawa.  It's a Native boy addressing his pagan
> family.  Anyone care to suggest translations of it?  Helpful
> hints--words
> peculiar to Kamloops Wawa include ikta mamuk (why); haha (holy; having
> spirit power); wik kata (impossible; there's no way); tlap klahawiam (be
> humbled; humiliated).
>
> "Ikta mamuk msaika skukum tomtom
> kopa tamanwas man, ikta mamuk msaika wawa: Aias haha
> ukuk tamanwas man.  Wik naika nanich pus iaka aias haha:
> Pus iaka aias haha wik kata pus iaka sik, wik
> kata pus mimlus: Pi msaika komtaks kanawi tamanwas man
> tlap sik pi mimlus kakwa kanawi tilikom.  Pus man tanas
> sik: Msaika iskom tamanwas pi iaka chako tlus, pi msaika wawa
> tamanwas man mamuk tlus iaka: Pi wik kakwa.  Pus man skukum
> sik, wik kata tamanwas man mamuk tlus iaka: Pus 100
> tamanwas mamuk kopa iaka wik kata pus klaska mamuk tlus
> iaka.  Pus S[ahali] T[ayi] tiki mamuk tlus iaka, aiak iaka chako
> tlus[,] pus S[ahali] T[ayi] tiki pus iaka mimlus, aiak iaka mimlus.
>
> "Pi ikta mamuk msaika skukum tomtom kopa tamanwas pi
> msaika mash S[ahali] T[ayi] iaka wawa.  Alki msaika tlap sik[,]
> alki msaika mimlus[,] pi msaika tlap klahawiam kopa ukuk[.]
> Tlus msaika kwash kopa S[ahali] T[ayi], pi wik msaika kwash
> kopa tamanwas man."
>
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>
>

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