Nuvendaltun Ht'ana Sukdu'a

By Albert Wassillie
Transcribed by James Kari

nanutset łu Nuvendaltun hqut'ana Qizhjeh qeveqayeh qighila
long ago the Nondalton (Nuvendaltun) people had a village at Kijik

k'etnu ch'adaniłen yetgu k'etnu hdi Ch'ak'dałtnu h'izhi qilan
this Kijik River is called in native Ch'ak'dałnu meaning 'rough water comes out'

K'q'uya Vena dałtun yi q'estsiq' guhdi Ch'ak'dałtnu k'etnu eł niłdasdlen
there is also a lake called K'q'uya Vena which means 'red salmon' whose outlet joins Kijik river

iygu niłdasdlen guhdi Vighuzdlen h'izhi qighila
the place where the two rivers meet was called Vighuzdlen

iy gudi unhtsah Qizhjeh ht'ana qayeh qighilat
here was the first village of the Kijik people

taz'in ch'u tuqesi ch'u nch'quyi eł yan łiq'a chihdghiłt'ik
the only way they killed fish at that time was with fish traps, fish spears, and dipnets

izin qighisen
there were no guns in those days

ts'iłten ch'u tets' yan ghuhdighiłt'a
they had only bows and arrows, and big game spears

iygu qayeh qut'ana dnighelt'a łu
at this village were many people

nichił qenq'a t'uh yan hdults'ih
people all lived in birchbark dwellings

K'qizaghetnu ki q'u Dena'ina qayeh qighila.
there was another Dena'ina village in Stony River called K'qizaghetnu eng these villages, Vighuzdlen and K'qizaghetnu

nił dnayi qilan ghuda niłch' nuqutdił
they were related so they used to visit each other

ts'ełq'i, nutiha n'uyi k'i qeł hdelts'ih
they would visit each other for one month or two months

K'qizaghetnu ht'ana ghuna tsaht'ana qeveł ch'etnih
we used to call them Tsaht'ana which means 'the inside Alaska Range people'

qudihdi Duntsihdna nał hdghinih
they called the Kijik people Duntsihna which means 'the below the Alaska Range people'

łik'aqa qevgh qighila
they had dogs,

hq'u heyteh ench'u hghuhdiłt'al
but they never used them (for work) in the winter

qeł shtunqedał ch'yan
all they used them for was hunting

yughudahdi qudi en'ushna ch'u kiłqa eła heyteh ghu hetl entsaqidelyu nih htunix ch'q'u
for work, the adult men and young menin the winter had to pull the sleds themselves in order to transport their belongings

shanteh ghuhdi nuhałqułdił
in the summer time, they backpacked

qevlik'aqa nihdi k'i t'anch'q'u hałqułdeł ch'u qevqada, qev'itl'a nihdi t'anch'q'u hałqeytełdeł.
but they also would use their dogs to pack all their belongings and food

yughuda nuch'unałi ench'u qeveł egh hdghitex
so it was not difficult for them to move around

ch'uqighił nihtidghulzex ghu k'i qit'ahqitni
they knew when it would be bad weather

yughuda yaghelich' ninuntidulzixi qet'ixi yan nuqunił
then they did not travel until the weather signs turned better

ench'u qeveł diset ndaha iqil ch'tuna qiyenizex
it was not far for them to wherever they wanted to move

ndaha yi'uh nugheł'eshi ch'u shagela dnaghelt'a yeh niqenax
they would move to wherever there was more abundant game and trout

k'undet k'i nch'u t'qit'al yughuda
because of this, they never went hungry