NOŁDITH GIXIDHOY
(Owl Story)

Recorded by Karen MacPherson?  
Recording: anl0764b.wav. Length: 0:03:06; DX portion 0:02:29.
Told to John Deacon.
BD: You know they said, long time ago, there was little
animals. They were, they turn into person, they said.
JD:  They were human one time.
BD: Human and then after that they turn into little like crow and
everything. And this little hawk,\footnoteowl. See next footnote. she had four little young ones. Ah,
in Indian way you want?

1. Noɬdithtr'i'neyi[t]xidentl'iyo.
   hawk owlit's saidtherethey're sitting in a line
   'They say that some owls were sitting in a line somewhere.'1

2. Axaxiɬdikxivogh dingit'aɬogot.
   thenshe cares for themtruly
   'She (the mother) was pleased with her children .'

3. diy---Dits'inqayniɬ'anhts'in',xits'intthi'it'oxɬogot.
   her childrenshe's looking atandto themshe's moving her headtruly
   'She nodded towards them.'

JD: (laughs)

BD:

4. "A gila gilaginaaghe'yoyiggiyjih"xiɬneɬogoxiniɬ'anhhingohinh.
   she said to themtrulyshe's looking at themwhileshe
   'As she looked at them she sang to them, "a gila gila ginaaghe'yo yiggiy jih".'

5. Xits'inigidluqts'ixiniɬ'anhhingo.
   at themshe's smilingshe's looking at themwhile
   'She smiled at them as she looked at them.'

6. Yiggichegiɬigginhchecheniɬ'anh.
   thatagainanother oneagainshe's looking
   'She looked at another one of them again.'

7. "A gila gilaginaaghe'yoggiyjih,"xiɬdik.
   then
   'Then "a gila gila ginaaghe'yo yiggiy jih".'

8. Uxuxuyiɬngu'odzyittr'o'isrɬogotYixgitsiy.
   suddenlyfrom overtheresomeone is comingtrulyCrow
   'Suddenly Crow was coming over.'

9. "Isda,"xivazrne.
   friend/cousinhe said to them
   "'Friend," he said to them.'

10. "Ngogits'iximo'idendhenedinh,"xivazrne.
    wellwronglywithouthe said to them
    "'You don't speak to them the right way," he told (her).'2

JD: (laughs)

11. "Ithe'gitth'intisrgiximdenets'i'et,"vazrneɬogo.
    shouldlegbig fatyou say to themhe said to hertruly
    "'Why don't you call them big fat legs," he asked her.'3

12. That's up the river4, this crow. nnn ts'in' he don't no-- pay no attention.

13. "A gila gilaginaaghe'yogoɬejih,"they sang.
    
    'She sang, "a gila gila, ginaaghe'yo goɬe jih."'

Nnn

14. Pretty soon"ithe'gimaggchuxxividenets'i'at,"vazrneɬogo.
    shouldeyebigtell themhe told hertruly
    'Pretty soon he told her, "why don't you say 'big eyes' to them," he asked her.'

15. Ngouxuxiyiɬyitongoiɬt'etɬogogidilego dadzdi'nets'in':A gila gila ginaaghe'yo yiggiy jihthey said.
    wellsuddenlymeanwhilecontinuouslytrulyshe's singingthis wayshe's uttering
    'All this time she kept on singing saying like this, "a gila gila ginaagheyo' yiggiy jih".'

16. " `Ganhtseginan-ghidizriq 'xivideneanh,"vazrne.
    one's nosethey're hooked/crookedtell themhehe told her
    "'Tell them their noses are crooked," he said to her.'

17. Xozrocheyuxudzyits'i nughoɬtl'itthdi.
    justjustshe attacked him
    'At that she attacked him.'5

18. Yuxudz,tthidixitadhityitots'in'.
    justthey started to fightthen
    'Then they started to fight.'

19. Eyggiyixgitsiyyuxudzxitr'e'ithtluxɬogot.
    thatravenjustshe knocked downtruly
    'She knocked that crow right down.'

20. "Ggaq,"didiyoq.
    cawhe uttered
    "'Caw," he shouted.'

21. Chediggandi'eɬtritchechetthidanxitithidhit.
    againhe quickly got up againagainthey started to fight again
    'He quickly got back up and they started fighting again.'

22. Eygginhnoɬdithchechexitr'e'ithtlux.
    thathawk owlagainhe knocked down
    'And this time he knocked the owl down too.'

23. "Ix,"didiyoq.
    she uttered
    "'Ix," she shouted.'

24. Chetthidanxit[i]thi[dhit]tux***Yuxgitsiychexantr'e'itht'ix.
    againthey start to fight againwhenravenagainshe knocked down
    'They started fighting again and she flung Crow down again.'

25. "Ggaq,"tr'i'nets'iyuxudztr'ine---tr'inliq'akngidiggi.
    cawhe saysandjusthe flew offabove
    'Saying "caw" he just flew away overhead.'

26. Ngoyiggiynoɬdithggoynginiggiyuxudztthik'ugixenathtl'isr.
    wellthathawk owlyoungbackjustthey went into the woods
    'Then the young owls all flew away into the woods.'

27. Ts'ants'in'[i]d[i]xinlu'on'.
    thenthe end
    'That's all.'

28. This crow he fly away. That's the end.

Osgood, Cornelius. 1959. Ingalik mental culture. New Haven: Dept. of

Anthropology, Yale University.

Notes

1. In Osgood 1959:36, niɬda\texttheta\ is identified as 'owl-B', with 'longer and thicker feathers' than a 'great horned owl'. In James Kari's fieldwork with Cleo Fairbanks, niɬdith is identified as 'great gray owl'. However, the title of this story is translated 'hawk owl' in Deacon 1985, and that is how noɬdith is translated here.
2. ximo'idendhen apparently said in Holikachuk
3. ximdene and ts'i'et in Holikachuk. DX would be xividene and ts'i'at.
4. in Holikachuk
5. xozro stylistic form of xizro 'just, only'?