Section 10.7 Wet'suwet'en - C’oldiw Halht’ï’m tla dïnc’iy ggikh wi’idiltsiy’
Written by: Veselin Jungic and Mark MacLean
Illustrated by: Bethani L’Heureux
Wet'suwet'en translation by: Rita George and Gary George of the Wet’suwet’en Nation
Dedication to the late Henry and Pat Isaac
This Wet'suwet'en narration of the story “Small Number and the Four Rabbit Holes,” is dedicated to my late uncles Henry and Patrick Isaac from Ka–Kuz Wit'en, near Burns Lake, BC. In the mid-1990s, they referred to a coyote as Dicin–tikh–lhic, which means bush dog. The other Wet'suwet'en term for coyote is Niyitsë. — Gary George
Si Sozï Halht’ï’m C’oldiw Halht’ï’m c’en c’idede’ dïs’za Sez Stso’ kwin’an a’dik bitso yehl nëwilhnic’.
My name is Small Number. This is a story that I heard from my grandmother and that she heard from her grandmother.
Dicin-tikh-lhic bighin detsan, ggikh dïnc’iy ggikh gi’an wit dadihl si’y .
It is about a coyote, a raven, a rabbit, and the four rabbit holes.
Dzïn tosik dicin-tikh-lhic C’ika’at’ah dicin-tikh-lhic gi’an wa dïhn da bi’n c’ide’ hë ya winïh dihl ya dicinta sa nihl da wihl’da gya dit san it da.
Every day Coyote goes hunting. Coyote leaves his den in the early morning, makes a big circle through the forest and comes back to the den in the evening.
Dicin nëda’ kwa za’ ggikh ha nihn ët’ da’ tla Halht’ï’m yez ët ni’ ye’ dicin-tikh-lhic tabï cawzisnic bi’n owit’ dzïn niwhleghonayh in’sa ggikh wë dil’ si’ gi’an.
At the very edge of the forest there are four rabbit holes in a straight line, a few steps apart from each other. Since Coyote is very hungry in the morning, he always checks only one rabbit hole before entering the forest.
Ggikh tabï Iku hinl’ dicin-tikh-lhic a nihn sa’la ë’la dzïn ya da gooh nihn zin tabï so’ Dicin-tikh-lhic ggikh wëos’ c’ik.
“This rabbit is very smart, but I will catch him one day,” says Coyote. But, many days have passed and Coyote couldn’t catch the rabbit.
Ë’hla bi’n dicin-tikh-lhic ggikh ba’ca detsan yah diht sa hïtliwh git dicin git wë dihn da’ Cr-r-ruck, Cr-r-ruck dicin-tikh-lhic ggikh tabï Iku hinlï Cr-r-ruck, Cr-r--uck.
One morning, when once again Coyote couldn’t find the rabbit, he heard Raven laughing from the top of the tree, “Cr-r-ruck, Cr-r-ruck, Coyote! The rabbit is smarter than you are! Cr-r-ruck, Cr-r-ruck!”
Dicin-tikh-lhic tabï cawisnic bin’ detsan d’-kya ninh hotsa’ dïtnic’ggikh Iku hinlï negh in dinit s’in ëlhits dzïn tas c’o.
Coyote was very hungry that morning and Raven’s words made him angry, “Maybe the rabbit is smarter than I am, but I am much smarter than you are!”
“Cr-r-ruck, Cr-r-ruck,” dicin-tikh-lhic tabï cawisnic tiy bi’n detsan hots’inïgilc’egh tabï Iku hinlï ggikh.
“Cr-r-ruck, Cr-r-ruck,” laughed Raven. “You are an old, hungry, and angry Coyote who cannot catch the rabbit.”
Hinlï ë ihn denïn zin yëta dah lilh tl’et ggikh in tëlelh yac’o na ho-din-da c’it wa’da-dïn-da wa tsu in telilh tl’et tosik owdz ïn bi?n tosik a-dol-sa hos’i ggikh wa san ggikh?
“Let me see how smart you are. If I tell you that every night, the rabbit sleeps in the hole that is next to the hole where he slept the previous night and if you keep checking only one hole every morning, in how many days will you catch the rabbit?”
Dicin-tikh-lhic detsan winïlhën ggikh yawa din da onilhlan detsan dikh wa ladïn ga detsan hinlï aya dinïnzen elodzin tsena ggikh tascu nï dicin-tikh-lhic t’la dicuts honye’.
Coyote looked at Raven, then looked at the rabbit holes, and then looked up at Raven again. “Raven, you think that you can trick everyone, but you just told me how to catch the rabbit,” said Coyote and slowly entered to the forest.
Delsic hona’ dicin-tikh-lhic ggikh ya da’guh?
Question: In how many days will Coyote catch the rabbit?
