Chokecherries? How many salted salmon? "Stop" = "have, be"?

[Dave Robertson]

Here's a selection from an 1894 letter written by a Secwepemc (Shuswap) 
person.  I like it for its local flavor.  I'd be glad to hear your thoughts 
about my interpretation of certain things here...  I've left the spellings 
as they are in the letter, so some might look unfamiliar: shilis, shult, 
top [for "stop"], and the number of salmon salted.  --  Dave R.


Kanawi naika tilikom ilo klaska sik. 
ALL MY PEOPLE NOT THEY SICK
"None of my people are ill."

Kopit ayu shilis iakwa ilihi, Kanu Krik, pi wiht ayu saman.
ONLY LOTS.OF CHERRIES HERE PLACE CANOE CREEK AND ALSO LOTS.OF SALMON
"There's just a lot of [choke-]cherries around this country, Canoe Creek, 
and also lots of salmon."  

Pi naika ayu mamuk shult saman.
AND I BUSY MAKE SALT SALMON
"And I'm busy salting salmon."

Naika mamuk shult saman iht 001 tatilam [sic].
I MAKE SALT SALMON ONE 001 TEN
"I've salted 10,000 (?) salmon."

Pi iht wiht naika tiki wawa kopa maika. 
AND ONE MORE I WANT SAY TO YOU
"And there's one other thing I want to say to you."

Naika drit tiki pus maika patlash pipa kopa naika.
I REALLY WANT FOR YOU SEND PAPER TO ME
"I'd really like you to send the newspaper [Kamloops Wawa] to me."

Pi ilo naika top [sic] tanas shikmin pus patlash kopa maika.
BUT NOT I HAVE LITTLE MONEY FOR SEND TO YOU
"But I don't have the coins to send you."

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