Picking Elderberries like Squirrels
By Muriel Ammon
Whima:lyo’ xoł ch’iwhiwh yiłchwe te:se:de:tł’.
Whe: ‘e:n do:-‘o:yłts’it ch’iwhiwh yiłchwe duxwe:di-q’ ‘a:winiw.
Whima:lyo’ ch’ohłts’it.
‘A’de:ne’ :
“Łitsow-de do:-ch’iłchwe.”
“Hayał ch’inehwa:n-de do:-ch’iłchwe.”
“Xo’ji niwho:ng łiwhin-xw ‘unt’e, de:di siłchwin-te.”
My friend took me to pick elderberries.
I didn’t know how elderberries should be picked.
He knows.
He counseled me:
“If they are green, do not clip them.”
“If they look like these [green ones], do not clip them.”
“If they are nice and black, you can clip them.”
Hayi-xw sehłchwe’n.
“Yo:w je:nah na:ng’e:tł’ xo’ji łixun ‘unt’e.”
Hayał hay sehłchwe’n.
So that’s how I did it.
“Those ones up there look so good,” he said.
So I got those.
Mine:jixomił…
‘A’de:ne’ :
“De:di xowh łitsow sehłchwin’ xola:n mit’ah ‘unt’e.”
“Whe:-ding xowh ‘ahdiyaw ne:s’ing.’”
“Whe:-’e:n silis-xw do:-’iwhchwe.”
“Łiwhin-xw wha:ne ‘iwhchwe.”
After a while…
He said:
“It looks like the bag is full of green ones.”
“At least that’s how it looks from here.”
“I’m not like a squirrel when I pick berries.”
“I only pick the black ones.”
Hayal ‘a’de:ne’
“Yo:w je:nah xowh din din dong na:ng’e:tł’.”
Hayal de:-de: whe:-’e:n dahdi-niwhne:s.
Hayal hay ‘iwhchwe.
Hayal … me:lah nichwing’-nehwa:n.
Ya:’ułchwe hay ‘e:n łitsow.
Then he said:
“There’s some waaaay up there.”
I found I was tall enough.
So I clipped them.
Many of these were … not what we wanted.
We had picked even more green berries.
I told this short story to Hupa elder speaker Verdena Parker, who then retold it in our language. Through translations, elements of the story changed. Parker brought in her own humor, describing picking elderberries indiscriminately as characteristic of a squirrel. In the end, she shaped the encounter into a lovely story for children to understand they must not pick the unripe elderberries. Parker has dedicated her life to encouraging the perseverance of Hupa language. Her continued work fills many roles – teacher, mentor, consultant, master speaker. I’m pleased to share something we worked on together. I hope I did her justice.
