K'q'uya Vena Sukdu'a

By Albert Wassillie
Transcribed by James Kari

K'q'uya Vena gini Dghilishla ch'u Niteha Dghil'u q'aghdeq dałun
Kijik Lake called in native K'q'uya Vena is between two mountains eng one of these mountains is called Dghilishla meaning 'Little Mountain'
the mountain on the north shore of Kijik Lake is called Nit'eha meaning 'Flying Mountain'

vunu tuvugh hqisen veq'estsiq' ch'u veq'atl'a yan tuvugh qilan
Kijik Lake has no beach on both its sides, but there is a beach at the head and at the outlet

qighishin gheli łiq'a vedileh
this lake is always full of salmon each year

niłq'a guk'i k'emeq' qinaghelt'a
so at the head, and at the outlet, there are lots of fish ponds

łiq'a vaqelah hnuyu dettix
the salmon will spawn in these ponds until the ponds freeze over

lyi ven łu vatunaghelt'a
the Kijik people said this Kijik Lake, or K'q'uya Vena, was so deep that it had no bottom

vatatl'ah hqiseni shi qeyeł dghinih łu
one winter, many groups of people, probably the Tsaht'ana'inside range people', came to this lake pulling sleds

kiq'u hey qilan łu iqil qayeh hch'anidatl'na qey didatl' ex k'entsa qidelyu ch'u dehnaghelt'a
they stopped on the lake

"gini ven łughu Duntsihna ghuna tatl'ah vahqisini shi qeyłniyi
then they said, "oh, this is the lake the Kijik people, Duntsina, say has no bottom

qałnigi vaqegh ch'nuchitni," qetni łu
"let's put a rock through it"

nunutseq'i tl'ił ts'ił nihnanilu
they started to gather rawhide ropes eng with this, they obtained a big heavy rock

ch'q'u qałnigi dnaghiłkughi qeyq'ach' nazhyuch' ch'q'u qegh qeydnaniłen
they tied the rope to the rock and threw it through a hole in the ice

ts'ił'an deghk'isen vegguya chegh ghuda yuneq niqaniyu ch'q'u q'udidi nan łu degguya ts'utl'a anadela
at this same time, a woman went up on the hillside because her baby was crying

yus ghu itna ghuna ench'u it hq'u łu qałnigi ghini tatl'ah qatnalen
while on the hillside, she started to change and put new moss in the baby cradle eng meanwhile, the group of people on the ice were surprised to hit bottom so soon

"eya! gu q'uki tatl'ah qilan hki," qetni łu ex "duntsihna ghuna qudi yehq'u dnina łughu," qetni łu
then they said, "those Kijik people, Duntsina, are not truthful. the bottom is right here"

sht'a idi ełq'u łu ten ghin qeveł taynadghetl' ch'q'u t'anch'q'u daq'u qezdlan
all of a sudden the ice broke up like in an explosion eng all the people on the ice perished

ts'ił'an deghk'isen ghun
the only ones who survived were the woman and her baby

vegguya eł qudi yan qesdyex ch'q'u Qizhjeh qayeh degguya eł niyu
she came to the Kijik people with her baby

dach' hdi łu t'qidyuq