Gathering Up Spruce Roots
By Muriel Ammon
Ring ring. Me’-ch’ixine:wh me’, nohma:lyo’ noh-ch’ing’ ch’ixe:ne:wh:
“Do:-whił łe:na:k’iwidilaw-te xay miqude’?”
Noh-’e:n, xodilyo’. Łe:na:k’iwidilaw xay miqude’ xoł niwho:ng silin-te! Diye, diye! Me:de:didin ‘o:dilts’it duxwe:di-q’ ‘a:wilaw. Ts’ehdiyah nohwung nikyung na’way.
“Q’ut niwho:ng, me:dindin diywho’ch-me’-silay, xola-yehk’iwilt’ow, mił-yunt’us. Miq’it ch’iwich’iwh q’ina. Q’ade’!”
Our friend rang us, “Do you girls want to come gather spruce roots with me?” We love this friend. We know it would be a blast getting spruce roots with her. Yes, yes! This is something we want to learn. Thanks for thinking of us. “Alright good, you’re going to need a bag for your roots, a pair of gloves, and some snippers. Oh, and a jacket. Later!”
Yiwiding-hit łe:na:k’iwidilaw minyay.
Yide’-dining’xine:wh-ch’ing’ ya:te:se:de:tł’ hayi-xw ‘a:ya:dit’e:n.
Ya:ne:de:tł’ whunchwing, nohma:lyo’, nohma:lyo’ xonił’ng-k’iłchwe ma:-k’itł’oy nay.
Nohdiywho’ch-me’silay na:dilkyo:s, nohla-yehk’iwilt’ow na:diliwh, nohmił-yunt’us na:dita:n. Nohmiq’it-ch’iwich’iw q’ina’.
Finally, the day came. We went up to Tolowa Country. There was me, my mom, our friend, and her teacher. We brought our bags, we brought our gloves, we brought our snippers. Our jackets, too!
Nohma:lyo’ yinił’ing nohch’ischwe’n hay duxwe:di ya’diltsun-te hay miqude’.
Qawh-kyoh nista:n miq’it tilchwing.
Xa:ya:k’iwidiwhe ya’diltsa:n.
Na:ła’ miqude’ mił łe:lk’ite:tł’o:n.
‘Ayne:se’n ła’ ‘iwhsta:n.
De:de:n chwiłch miqude’ ‘iwhtsa:n.
Our friend showed us how to find the roots. They grow on fallen redwood trees. Some are thin and some are thick. We had to dig around to find them. They get tangled in with other roots. I thought I had found one. But it was a huckleberry root.
Nohma:lyo’ yinił’ing nohch’ischwe’n hay xwe:di ‘ułchwin.
Me:lah miqude’ misits ch’iwoł xola’ke’ts’ mił ch’ite:ke’ts’.
Hay miqade hayi-xw ya:dilchwe:n.
Our friend showed us what they smell like. She scraped a little of the bark off with her fingernail, so we could smell it.
Te:y’e’n whe:-’e:n.
Xoch’o:yne’ dahnawhlaw hay ch’iłtsa:n miqude’ xong-’e:n’.
Do: hay wung ‘a:dich’o:łte’ hay ‘iwhtsun’-te dota:w na:ła’-q’ ‘unt’e.
Mine:jixomił na:ła’-xw hayi-xw whił ‘a:niwe:st’e’ niwho:ng.
Hayal whe ‘a:da’iwhtsa:n me:lah.
‘A:da ‘iwhchwe ‘iwhyo’. Q’ut-dzi-mił miqude’ xola:n sehłchwe’n.
I watched for a while. I helped untangle the roots she found. At first, I did not trust myself to know it was the right kind. After a while, I got used to it. I began to find some on my own. I like being able to do it myself. Pretty soon I had a bunch of roots.
Hayał q’ut niwingwho’n ła:n ‘iwhtsa:n ‘a:da.
Hayał dahna:ya:dilaw hay te:diqits’ ya:diltsa:n.
Mine:jixomił nohma:lyo’ ‘a:dene, “Nił’ing!”
Łe:ne:tł’ ya’diltsa:n nohmaylo’ xay miqude’ xo’ji nikya:w din din ch’iłtsa:n.
Nohma:lyo’ dahdi nikya:w din ch’iłtsa:n.
“Which’oyne!”
‘Ahtine’ nohla mił na:ya:sdilte’.
I had fun finding long roots. The longer it took to untangle them, the more rewarding. After a while, our friend called to us. We gathered around, to see what she’d done. Surprised, we were, for she held the biggest root we’d over seen. “Help me finish digging this out!” So we set our little hands to work.
Xontah-ch’ing’ na:ya:sdile’.
Diywho’ keh ya:sdilchwin-te!
We will bring them home. Let’s make something!
<3 Special thanks to basket weaver extrordanaire Denise McKenzie (Tolowa, Yurok) and language expert Verdena Parker (Hupa)
