sht’e tst kwutst huw’a’lum’ | A game to remember

Playing soccer is hard work, as we see in this story by Alex Crocker and Melainee Sampson, translated into Hul’q’umi’num’ and read by Ruby Peter. Hul’q’umi’num’ is a Coast Salish language spoken in British Columbia, Canada.

sht’e tst kwutst huw’a’lum’ | A Game to remember

by Alex Crocker, Melainee Sampson, and Ruby Peter

I am Alex Crocker. I am from Stz’uminus.
I am Melainee Sampson. I am from Cowichan.

  1. tun’a sqwul’qwul’ ’i’ nilh tthu footpal kwus pe’ptitul’ ni’ ’u tthu ni’ shni’s.
    This story is about our first soccer tournament together.
  2. kwutst t’ut’a’thut, yath ’uw’ t’ut’a’thut nem’ ’uw’ sul’ts’ tthu sil’anum,’i’ ni’ tse’ tus ’u kwthu shpe’ptitul’ ’i’ yath tst ’uw’ t’ut’a’thut ni’ ’utl’ Shell Beach.

We practice all year round for the tournaments, and we always practice at the Shell Beach field.

  1. ts’uhwle’ nuw’ slhunlheni’ ’ul’ tthu ni’ t’a’thut ’i’ ts’uhwle’ suw’wuy’qe’.

The practices are co-ed, male and female.

  1. ’i’ hay kwthu ni’ ’u kwthu spe’ptitul’, ni’ tl’uw’ yu hun’tsuli’ kwthu slhunlheni’ ’i’ tl’uw’ hun’tsuli’ tthu suw’wuy’qe’.

But the tournaments are either ladies or men.

  1. wulh ni’ ’u kwthu sthumes kwthu pe’ptitul’;
    hay ’ul’ kw’e’lus skweyul.

It was the second game of the tournament; it was a hot day.

  1. ’i tst sq’uq’ith ’i’ ni’ tst ni’ ’utl’ sta’luw’.

And we were playing short-handed against Sta’lo’.

  1. ’uw’ toohwelu ’ul’ kwthu ’i hiiw’a’lum’ ’i’ ni’ tst’ tl’lim’ ’uw’ t’a’thut kws tl’hwunuq tst.

We only had nine players, and we did our best to hold them off.

  1. ’i’ tl’lim’ thulh nuw’ tuw’ hwu tl’i’ qux ni’ tuw’ me’kwulh.

It got pretty rough; there were some injuries.

  1. ni’ kwthu ni’ tsulel ’i’ ni’ kwintul.

There were almost a couple of fights.

  1. kwthu ts’lhhiw’a hwu’lum’ tst ’i’ nilh ’uw’ coach tst tl’e’.
    ’i’ nilh ni’ ts’ets’uw’ut. nilh ni’ ’unuhwstuhw tthu ni’ kwikwun’tul’.

One of our fellow players who was also our coach helped stop the fights.

  1. ni’ tst ’uw’ shqut kwthu s-huw’a’lum’, ’uwu te’ ts’uwtun.

We played on because we had no subs.

  1. qux thulh ni’ ti’ya’xw ’i’ ni tst ’uw’ thu’it ’uw’ st’ee kw’uw’ ’un’nehwstuhw kwthu suw’a’lum’.

There was a lot of action; it was a close game.

  1. ni’ tst ’uw’ yu hith kwusuw’ ni’ ’ul’ ’u kwthu xut’ustum’ “tied”.

It was tied for a long time.

  1. yelh sus kwunnuhwus kwthu nuts’a’ team sisuw’ nilh ni’ tl’hwunuq
    ni’ tl’hwutalum, yuse’lu ’i’ kwthu nuts’a’.

Finally, the other team managed to score on us, and we lost two to one.

  1. ’i’ ni’ tst thulh ’uw’ ’uy’ shqwaluwun tst ’u kwthu ni’ sht’e tst kwutst huw’a’lum’.

We felt good about how we played.

  1. ni’ tst thulh ’uw’ thu’it ’uw’ xulh kwutst ’uwu tst niit tl’huwunuq.

But we were disappointed that we lost.

  1. yath tst nuw’ siil’ukw kws qul’et tst huw’a’lum’.

We are looking forward to playing more soccer.

  1. ni’ hay. hay tseep q’u.

The end. Thank you.

Story – Alex Crocker, Melainee Sampson
Hul’q’umi’num’ translation – Ruby Peter
Hul’q’umi’num’ voice – Ruby Peter
Hul’q’umi’num’ transcription and editing – Donna Gerdts
Art editing – Alex Crocker, Melainee Sampson & CJ Rice
Video – Donna Gerdts & CJ Rice
Music – Thomas Jones
Funding – First Peoples’ Cultural Council, School District #68, Simon Fraser University, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
2015