Ten years of missionary work among the Indians at Skokomish, Washington Territory, 1874-1884Eells, Myron
Religion
Ten years of missionary work among the Indians at Skokomish, Washington Territory, 1874-1884
Eells, Myron
Clallam Indians -- Missions; Missions -- Washington (State); Skokomish Indian Reservation (Wash.); Twana Indians -- Missions
(2) Tse-íds kwe nang un tun
A-chu-á-atl.
(3) E-yum-tsa Jesus
A-chu-á-atl.
(4) E-á-as hó-y
A-chu-á-atl.
TRANSLATION.
(1) Come to Jesus
Now.
(2) He will help you
Now.
(3) He is strong
Now.
(4) He is ready
Now.
SQUAXON DIALECT OF THE NISQUALLY.
_Tune_, “Jesus loves me.”
The following is a translation of our hymn, “Jesus loves me, this I
know,” so literally that it can be sung in both languages at the same
time. The other two verses have also been likewise translated.
(1) Jesus hatl tobsh, al kwus us hai-tuh,
Gwutl te Bible siats ub tobsh:
Way-so-buk as-tai-ad seetl,
Hwāk us wil luhs gwulluh seetl as wil luhl.
CHORUS.
A Jesus hatl tobsh,
Gwutl ti Bible siats ub tobsh.
(2) Jesus hatl tobsh, tsātl to át-to-bud
Guk-ud shugkls ak hāk doh shuk,
Tsātl tloh tsa-gwud buk dzas dzuk
Be kwed kwus cha-chushs atl tu-us da.
As an illustration of the difficulty I had, the following is given. I
wished to obtain the chorus to the hymn, “I’m going home,” and obtained
the expression, “I will go home,” in Clallam, in the following seven
different ways. The last one was the only one that would fit the music.
O-is-si-ai-a tsa-an-tok^{hu}.
Ku-kwa-chin-is-hi-a tok^{hu}.
Ho-hi-a-tsan-u-tok-^{hu}.
Tsā-ā-ting-tsin-no-tok^{hu}.
U-tsā-it-tok^{hu}.
U-its-tla-hutl tok-^{hu}.
To-kó-tsa-un.
As a literary curiosity I found that the old hymn, “Where, oh, where is
good old Noah?” to the tune of “The Hebrew Children,” could be sung in
four languages at the same time, and this was the only English hymn that
I was ever able to translate into Chinook jargon, thus:--
_Chinook Jargon._--Kah, O kah mit-lite Noah álta?
_Twana._--Di-chád, di chád ká-o way klits Noah?
_Clallam._--A-hín-kwa, a hín chees wi-á-a Noah?
Far off in the promised land.
CHORUS.
By-and-by we’ll go home to meet them.
_Chinook Jargon._--Alki nesika klatawa nánitch.
_Twana._--At-so-i-at-so-i hoi klis-há-dab sub-la-bad.
_Clallam._--I-á che hátl sche-túng-a-whun.
LITERAL TRANSLATION.
_Chinook Jargon._--Where, oh, where, is Noah now?
_Twana._--Where, oh, where, is Noah?
_Clallam._--Where, oh, where, is Noah now?
Far off in the promised land.
CHORUS.
By-and-by we’ll go home to meet them.
_Chinook._--Soon we will go and see [him].
_Twana._--Soon we will go and see him.
_Clallam._--Far off in the good land.
These sentences can be mixed up in these languages in any way, make good
sense, and mean almost precisely the same. I found no other hymn in
which I could do likewise, but the chorus to “I’m going home” can be
rendered similarly in the English, Twana, and Clallam.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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