by Evangeline Guerin and Delores Louie | Swustanulwut
I would like to tell you a story about my family. We love fishing and it has been a way of living for us. This is about my grandpa Bob, who raised me as a daughter, so I called him Dad. He is no longer with us and this is my first story about him since he passed. I miss him and this story brings back happy memories.
(1) ’u kw’un’a wulh hith ’i’ hwiiw’tsustal’hwus kwthunu men Bob (th’atth’ul’tun) kws hwu tsetsul’ulhtun’ tst ni’ ’utl’ Fraser River.
A long time ago, my dad was teaching us to fish on the Fraser River.
(2) susuw’‘’un’nuhw tthu pout tst ni’ ’utl’ Reni’s Wharf, tthey’ ni’ shni’s kws sq’eq’up tthu pout tst.
He parked our gasoline boat at Reni’s Wharf, that’s where we tied up the boat.
(3) ni’ tus ’u tthey’ tum’kw’e’lus susuw’ st’e ’uw’ niit tl’uw’ hwu ’a’mut tthu sts’uluhwqun.
In the summertime, Ladner (sts’uluhwqun) was like our second home.
(4) slhq’il kwthunu men kws shtatul’st-hwus tthu ’uy’ shhwunum’s kws tsetsul’ulhtun’s ’i’ hay ’ul’ qux stseelhtun.
My father knew the best spots to fish where there were lots of salmon.
(5) nilh tthu s’aa’lh shtun’aalhtun yath ’uw’ syaay’us tst, tsetsul’ulhtun’, nilh shnu’as tst.
Fishing is a way of life for my family.
(6) nilh kwu’elh, hay ’ul’ wulh sts’uy’elh syuth sqwal kwsus hwun’ yu stl’i’tl’qulh ’i’ yu huy’thustal’hwus yula’ulh ’u tthu pout.
That made those day’s meaningful and I cherish those moments that Dad shared his childhood stories with us on the boat.
(7) kwthey’ nuts’a’ skweyul ’i’ ni’ hwi’ tseelhtunstalum, tthu ’een’thu ’i’ lhunu shuyulh Sandra ’u kwthu men tst.
This one time he was taking myself and my sister Sandra fishing.
(8) stitiya’xw tst ’i’ s-hway’kwus kwthunu men Bob kwsus shtatul’st-hwus kws wulh stsetsululhtun’ nilh wulh hwyuxw.
We were rushing and Dad was panicking because he knew the fish opening had already started.
(9) stitiya’xw tst ’i’ Sandra hwu’ul’lum’ ’u tthu tluk tst ’i’ ’u thu pout tst ’aalhstuhw tthu hakw tse’ ’i’ tthu s’ulhtun tst tse’.
Sandra and I were rushing making trips back and forth from the truck to the boat loading on the gear and supplies.
(10) hay kwthunu men Bob, nilh kwthu pout yu stitiya’xws kwsus thuytus tu engines ’u tthu pout yelh sus nem’ thu’ithut.
My dad Bob was busy preparing the boat’s engine before we set out.
(11) ’i’ ’i yuhw tst hws’uli’men’ wulh t’uy’qw’thut tthunu men Bob kwsutst nan uw’ hws’uli’men’.
We must have been moving too slow and my dad Bob was getting upset with us.
(12) nilh kwthu hay ’ul’ lhi’a’uqwt kwutst nem’ tsam tl’umast tthu t-hway ’ula’ulh ’u tthu tluk ’i’ lhi’a’uwqt tthunu men, hwluklitus tthu tluk.
On the final trip up the ramp to the truck, Dad followed us up to lock the vehicle.
(13) ’i’ hay ’ul’ qux ma’uqw ni’ ’u tthey’ shlhulheel’ kwsus ’um’imush tthey’ ’i’ qu.u.uhw ma’uqw.
There was a big group of ducks living at the dock.
(14) hwthithuqun tthey’ ma’uqw, kwsus yu qwuqwul’lhne’num.
Those ducks were making lots of noise.
(15) ’i’ yath tst ’uw’ xulhust ’u tthu suplil.
We used to feed them bread all the time.
(16) yu ’i’mush’ tthunu men Bob tl’epqe’num xwut’u ’u tthu shlhulheel’ ’i’ wulh xwulun’chenum’ thuw’ne’ullh ma’uqw huy’wun’thut ’u tthunu men yu qwasthut ’u tthu qa’.
My dad Bob walked back down the ramp first, and the ducks went running down, jumping into the water.
(17) suw’ hwi’ qwullhne’num tthey’ nuts’a’ ma’uqw, thut ’i’ yu slhq’il kwsus thut, “BOB”.
Then one of the ducks very clearly said, “BOB”.
(18) ni’ tst hwlamustul sutst ’uw’ huliye’num’.
We all looked at each other and laughed.
(19) nus nuw’ thut-stuhw tthunu men Bob,” nii ch ts’elhum’ut, ’u te’?”
I said to my dad, “Did you hear that, Dad?”
(20) hwu tth’ey’kw’thut tthunu men susuw’ thut, “poulshut!!”
Dad was shocked, and he said, “Bullshit!”
(21) ni’ tst mukw’ ’uw’ huy’yinum’ ’i’ hay ’ul’ hwu ’iyus tthu skweyul tst.
Then we all laughed about it and it made our day happier.
(22) tun’ni’ ’u kwthey’ skweyul, ’i’ ni’ tst hwiyequpt kwthu men tst, ’u tthu “Bob” ma’uqw.
Every time we seen those ducks later, we teased dad about his “Bob” duck.
(23) ni’ hay. huy ch q’u.
The end. Thank You.
This story can be downloaded as a PDF here.
