This story about my son is a glimpse of a day in his life. He has grown up alongside me fishing. This story relates his first time fishing with a rod and describes how exciting it was for him. Tyson is Cowichan and he’s now learning the Cowichan fishing ways.
(1) hay kws ’uw’ tsetsul’ulhtun’s tthunu ts’lhhwulmuhw ’i kw’umutham’sh.
I was raised in a fishing family.
(2) ’iilh tsun ’uw’ hwun’ ’uhwiin’ kwunus hwun’a’ nem’ tseelhtun.
I have been going out fishing since I was very small.
(3) ni’ kwu’elh tl’uw’ yu st’e tthunu me’mun’u, hwun’ mumun’lh ’i’ ni’ wulh tseelhtun kws hwun’a’ m’i tthu tsetsul’ulhtun’.
And so, my children also, they have all fished since they were very small.
(4) ni’ nem’ ’a’ulh ’u thu thithu pout kwsus nem’ tseelhtun.
They often go out on the big fishing boats for catching salmon.
(5) tthey’ ni’ shhw’ula’ulh pout ’i’ ni’ tthu shni’stewut thu swultun.
Our boats have big drums that have the lines for our big nets.
(6) swultun tthu ni’ hakwushut kwtust kw’ayukw ’u tthus tseelhtun.
We use these nets when we troll for salmon.
(7) ha’ tst m’i tuyqul ’ewu ’utl’ quw’utsun’ ’i’ ni’ tl’uw’ nets’ tthu ni’ hakwushut ’u kwutst tseelhtun.
When we moved over here to Cowichan, we do other kinds of fishing here.
(8) tun’a nu sqwul’qwul’ ’i’ nilh Tyson kwus wulh ’apun ’i’ kw’ nuts’a’ sil’anum.
My story is about my son Tyson, he is eleven years old.
(9) ni’ wulh qxelh kwsus nem’ tseelhtun hunum’ ’utl’ Fraser River.
He’s been fishing many times on the Fraser River.
(10) ’uw’ yelh kwu’elh kwus yu tatul’utus kws tseelhtuns ’i ’u tun’a, Quw’utsun’.
He is just learning how to fish here in Cowichan.
(11) kwsus ’uw’ hwun’a’ ’i’ nem’ hi’wul’te’num’,
When Tyson went rod fishing for the first time,
(12) ’i’ ’uw’ hayulh thu swultun niilh shtsetsul’ulhtun’s.
previously he had only fished with a net.
(13) ni’ nem’ yu kwun’atul’ ’u kwthu tslhi’le’ums ’i’ kwthu mens kwthey’.
He went with his stepfather and the father of his stepfather.
(14) xuthiinu ’eelhtun.
There were four people in all.
(15) ni’ yu kwun’atul’ ’utl’ Kevin ni’ ’u thu nuts’a’ pout.
He went with Kevin and on one boat
(16) hay nilh Wayne ’i’ Kole yul’a’ulh thu nuts’a’ skiff.
It was Wayne Sr. and Kole on the other boat, a skiff.
(17) kwun’etum ’utl’ Tyson tthu swe’s peyts’tuns.
Tyson was holding his own rod.
(18) yu sti’am’st-hwus tthu xut’ustum’ jigs ’i’ tthu lhukw’tun.
On the line, he put jigs and hook.
(19) hwul’i’hwtus jig ’i’ni’thulh tetul’ ’u’ thu mumun’lh kw’ul’i’kw’suts sus ’uw’ hunum’nusum’ ’u tthu stseelhtun.
It’s a weighted jig and it imitates a little trout and attracts the salmon.
(20) nilh ni’ hakwushus ni’ stsme’lus.
That’s what he used instead of bait.
(21) yul’a’ulh tthey’ xuthiinu ’u thu yuse’lu pout ’i’ mukw ’uw’ tspeeyts’tun.
The four different people had rods on two separate boats.
(22) hith kwus ’uw’ ’aamutsun ’ul’ ’eelhtun, they’tus tthu ni’ hakwushus tse’.
They sat a long time, waiting, staying prepared.
(23) hwun’ xut’u ’i’ ni’ wulh kweyuxum tthu swe’s xwi’lum’ ’utl’ Tyson.
Finally, there was a pull-on Tyson’s line.
(24) sis m’uw’ hwkw’atus m’i qw’umxwutus tthu swe’s reels.
And he started winding in the reel.
(25) ’i’ thuqi’ tthu ni’ st’i’am’ ’u tthu swe’s lhukw’tuns.
And there was a sockeye on the hook.
(26) sis m’uw’ xults’thut ’i’ tl’uw’ xults’thut peyts’tuns, sis m’uw’ hwu stutes tthu thuqi’.
He turned and turned the rod and the sockeye got closer.
(27) sis ’uw’ ts’ewutum ’utl’ Kevin kwsu m’i hwkw’atus m’i telshus tthu tthu stseelhtun.
Kevin helped him reeling in the fish.
(28) tahw nuw’ hwu stutes, tl’lim’ ’uw’ hwu stutes ’u tthu pout ’i’ ni’ hwi’ qtl’umnamut tthu thuqi’.
But just before they got it to the boat, the sockeye escaped from the hook.
(29) sus nem’ ’uw’ huye’, shtem huye’.
And it started to swim off.
(30) xwum kwus kwunutus tthey’ ’uxthim’tun sus m’uw’ telshus tthu stseelhtun kws ni’s m’i kwunnuhw tthu stseelhtun kws hwuwe’s niis nan ’uw’ hwu ni’ ’u tthu tl’up qa’.
But he quickly grabbed the dipnet and he scooped it up with the net, while the sockeye was not yet too deep in the water.
(31) t’ut’a’thut tthuw’nilh thuqi’ kws nem’s ’utl’qulnamut ’i’ skw’ey kws nem’s ’utl’qulnamut ’u tthu ’uxthim’tun.
The sockeye tried to swim out of the net, but it couldn’t get out.
(32) wulh ts’ewutum’ ’utl’ Kevin m’i lel’shum tthu swultun, m’i kwunnum ’i’ thuqi’ ’i’ tthu ni’ sun’iw’
But then Kevin helped too, and they pulled the net in, and it was a sockeye.
(33) nilh ’uw’ hwun’a’ thuqi’ ni’ kwunnuhwus kwus ’u tthey’ ni’ sht’es kwus tse’tsul’ulhtun’.
This was the first sockeye he caught fishing this way.
(34) tun’a lhnimulh tthu ni’ shtuhiim’ tst ’i’ ha’ kwunnuhw tthuw’ hwun’a’ ’ul’ kwunnuhwuhw ’un’ shun’tsu ’i’ nilh ’un’ suw’ mem’t, nem’ ch ’amust kw’ s’ul-hween’.
Our custom is that you give your first catch away.
(35) suw’ kwunutum ’utl’ Tyson tthu swe’s thuqi’s suw’ ’ehwe’t ’u thu si’lus, Dolly Sylvester.
So, Tyson gave this sockeye away to his grandmother, Dolly Sylvester.
(36) hay ’ul’ ’uy’ shqwaluwuns kwus kwunnuhwus tthu stseelhtun.
She was glad he brought her the salmon.
(37) ’i’ tl’uw’ ’uy’ shqwaluwuns tthuw’nilhs si’lus kws nilhs hay ’ul’ ’uw’ wulh hwun’a’ kwunnuhwus stseelhtun.
And she was happy for him for him getting his first catch.
(38) hay ’ul’ ’uy’ shqwaluwun ’utl’ Tyson kwus ’i tatul’nuhwus kws tsetsul’ulhtuns.
Tyson was also happy to learn to fish.
(39) ’i’ nilh ’uw’ shtuhiims tun’a lhnimulh hwun’ts’ulwum’ kws nilhs tthu stseelhtun yath ’uw’ kwen’nuhwut.
Learning to fish is a way of life in our family.
(40) ni’ kwu’elh ni’ tul’nuhwuhw sht’es kws kwen’nuhw tthu stseelhtuns swe’stuhws tthuw’ ts’lhhwumuhw ’i’ kwsus mem’t ’u tthu siiye’yus hwulmuhw.
He also learns how to provide for his family and the giving ways of our people.
(41) nilh ni’ tl’uw’ yu sht’es tthu shhwuw’welis, sul’si’lus, sts’a’lum’uqws.
He’s just like his parents, grandparents, and great grandparents.
(42) yu sht’es tthu hwulmuhw shtatul’stuhws tthu tseelhtun kws hwiiw’tssun’uqs ’u tthu ni’ sht’es yu hunum’ust-hwus ’u tthu smuneem’s
There’s a long line of knowledge of fishing passed down through generations.
(43) nilh kwu’elh ni’ sht’es kwutst sht’e ’uw’ tl’lim’ ’uw’ kwunel’s shtatul’na’mut ’u tthu sht’es tthu kw’atl’kwu qa’, xut’ustum’ Salish Sea.
And a connection and knowledge with the Salish Sea.
The PDF of this story can be found here.
